


Dominaria: Bolas's Vengeance

by KevintheJace



Series: MtG rewrites [2]
Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But at least the legit story reads less like a fanfic, F/M, I see them with their Gideon x Lili bs in the peripheral, It's been 3 god damn years, It's still not great though, Really brought down the hammer on Jace and Liliana, What is WotC doing?, just give us what we want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 15:33:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KevintheJace/pseuds/KevintheJace
Summary: Nicol Bolas has finally come into the spotlight by leading an all out siege against Dominaria. Teferi and the Gatewatch, with their planeswalker allies must stop him before he could reverse the Mending. He could destroy Dominaria. And the rest of the Multiverse with it.This is a continuation of my version of Ixalan.





	1. Triumphant Return

The rift grew, reality around it eroding and flaking away like burnt paper, crumbling into the void. Cracks spindled outward from the hole and crackles of blue energy flared out then burned to black, scorch marks suspended midair. More chunks of reality collapsed into the hole, accelerating into oblivion as the growing rift consumed the Shivan mountains around it, growing into a massive portal.

He had come. Teferi’s knuckles turned white as his grip on his staff tightened. He could feel the tension radiating off of his allies. Behind him, fear filled the air around a small army of soldiers that had agreed to help.

Golden horns appeared first, gliding out of the dark portal, gleaming and flawless. The dragon's perfect form followed, sliding out of the void, enormous and lithe, power coiled behind massive wings and sharpened claws.

Behind the Forever Serpent, a dread figure, tall as a giant, cloaked in darkness and shaped in the likeness of a scarab beetle, came striding through the open gates. And behind him, in the wake of his implacable dark divinity, came an army.

There were thousands of them, coated in a bright, hard metallic blue. Humans and minotaurs, nagas and aven. All were imposing, though each form was only sinew and bone encased in a polished, blue stone glaze more beautiful than any jewelry. All of them wielded weapons, sharp and gleaming, and the dead moved with a grace and fluidity that suggested none of them had lost any of the agility or strength that they had in life. Their eyes glowed with golden flame and their faces were frozen in grim smiles as they raised their weapons.

“What are those...things?” A general asked, fear permeating her voice.

“The enemy.” Teferi rose from the ground to meet Bolas at eye level.

“Is this my welcoming party, old friend?” Bolas grinned.  
___________________________________________________________________

Gideon’s boots hit the rocky shores of an island. Chandra and Nissa weren’t far.

Seawater sprayed the land, from a steep cliff. Inland, Gideon could see a collection of shoreline towers. Tolaria West.

“Where are we?” Chandra asked.

“I’m not sure,” Nissa said, “I can’t read the leylines. They’re ancient….and malformed.”

“We’re where we need to be.” Gideon stated, “Tolaria West is just across the island. That’s our stronghold.”

The three planeswalkers took about two hours to cross the barren island and make it to the towers off the shore.

Mages wandered the area, carrying spell books and leather satchels. The planeswalkers got a lot of stares on their way to the main tower’s doors.

The headmaster was a friend of Ajani’s apparently. A man named Teferi who also used to be a planeswalker.

Gideon knocked on the massive, gilded doors.

The doors creaked open to a dimly lit library. Cautiously, all three of them entered.

The doors slammed shut. A disembodied voice called out, “Identify yourselves.”

“Um...I’m Gideon Jura. Planeswalker. These are my allies, Chandra Nalaar and Nissa Revane.” Gideon said, “We’re friends with Ajani Goldmane.”

The library lit up, “Well why didn’t you say so? Take the spiral staircase. Teferi will be waiting to meet you.”

Gideon, Chandra and Nissa did as they were told. They traveled up to a floor encased in a glass dome.

An elderly, dark skinned man was sitting at a singular desk. He was clothed in royal blue robes that draped off his body. His face was weathered, gruff and showed an abundance of experience in life.

“Are you...Teferi?” Chandra asked.

“Ah, Yes. My guests. Welcome to Tolaria West.” The man said, “I am Teferi, headmaster here.”

“Hi. We were told you could help us stop Bolas from invading Dominaria.” Gideon said.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that.” Teferi’s face turned grim.

“What do you mean?”

“I tried to stop him from entering Dominaria in the first place, but...those things. His Eternals. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Teferi said.

“How far in is he?”

“He’s only taken a small island off of Shiv.” Teferi stood, “What we need to do now is focus on gathering a sizable force to counter his.”

“Ajani said he’d be back with more planeswalkers.” Nissa added.

“Planeswalker numbers won’t be enough. We need an army.” 

“Well we could—” Gideon started, but was cut off by a sudden shadow blanketing the sky.

Dark clouds covered the sun and bore ominous blackness upon Tolaria West.

“Attention, Dominarians!” All four recognized the voice. It was Bolas, “I am here to broadcast a very important message. I, Nicol Bolas, have mobilized an army of near unstoppable zombies and officially issue my declaration of war! Quake in fear. I will bring destruction to your civilizations one by one. My invasion will begin in one week. You have until then to send any messengers to Shiv and offer your surrender to me. Otherwise, I will not show mercy. No man, woman or child will be spared. Their bodies will line the roads connecting my new empire.”

All was silent.

“What...was that?” Nissa asked.

“His declaration of war.” Teferi said.

“We need to help them!” Gideon said.

Teferi looked solemnly at the Gatewatch, “We can’t.”

“What do you mean we can’t?” Gideon asked.

“We planeswalkers are near powerless here!” Teferi said, exasperated.

“Powerless?”

“Ever since our leylines were twisted and destroyed, mana's been...weird. We have few resources to cast spells. The only add on to being a planeswalker is the ability to travel between planes.”

“But then how can they cast magic?” Nissa asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe somekind of artifact. My guess is that Bolas will use some method of mana comsumption to try and prevent the Mending's effects on himself.” Teferi said.

“Well how do you suggest we stop him?” Gideon asked.

A flash of light permeated the room.

Ajani stood there, accompanied by Tamiyo, and...Sarkhan Vol.

Chandra lit her fists again, “What’s that motherfucker doing here?”

“Woah, what?” Nissa grabbed her.

“That’s Sarkhan Vol. One of Bolas’s lap dogs.” Chandra growled.

“What? Ajani, explain.” Gideon said.

“Sarkhan is no longer under Bolas’s command. He’s an emissary of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon now. We’ve got another ally out here right now. They come from the same plane.” the leonin explained.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Nissa said, “We’re having a major issue. Us planeswalkers are seriously underpowered with Dominaria’s leylines. We need to fix it.”

“Well, what caused the leylines to be so messed up in the first place?” Sarkhan asked.

Teferi raised his hand, “Pleasure to meet you all. My name is Teferi. The leylines are my fault. Kind of.”

“How?” Tamiyo asked.

“It’s a long and diluted story from thousands of years ago when planeswalkers were immortal. Basically, in order to protect two countries from an invasion similar to this, I separated them from Dominaria, making them exist outside of realty. After the invasion was over, I attempted to phase them back in, but it wouldn’t work because an avatar named Karona reshaped Dominaria’s mana. After Karona died, there was no way it could allow me to merge them. But, over time, the two lands began forcing themselves back in. And with Karona dead, mana’s been scarce. Time rifts were displacing the multiverse, so me and a bunch of other planeswalkers fixed the problem with an event called the Mending.”

“If Bolas wants to prevent the Mending’s effects on himself, he’ll have to find the essence of a premending planeswalker. If we can find a spark, we’ll have the same amount of godly power and we can stop him.” Sarkhan said.

Teferi saighed, “It’s true that I’m a powerful mage, but to find the spark of a pre Mending planeswalker would be near impossible.”

“Well, we have time.” Ajani exhaled, “Gideon. What’s the update on your front.”

“We’ve lost Jace and Liliana.” Gideon explained, a look of guilt stained on his face.

“They’re dead?”

“No. Not Liliana. She betrayed us. Gave up without a fight. And Jace...we don’t know. We saw him planeswalk away, but we don’t know where to.”

“Did you find out anything from your journey?”

Nissa spoke up, “Nicol Bolas turned Amonkhet into a constant slaughter machine. He raised the dead corpses to become an unstoppable army called the Eternals. They are master warriors and mages who retain their abilities in undeath.”

Ajani heard the beating of scaled wings come from outside. He quickly hurried onto a balcony.

“Narset, are you alright?” He asked.

The mage and her dragon had landed on the ground, but Narset had flown up to the balcony of the tower.

“I’m fine.” Narset said, “But I felt a powerful magical presence during my journey. I’m pretty sure I’ve been followed. We should move.”

“How’s that possible? Tolaria is thousands of miles from Shiv. You used wind magic.”

“I think this one was a planeswalker. Somehow, they tracked me.”

Ajani heard a heartbeat from the lagoon that surrounded the tower. He drew his axe and readied himself. There was a cloaked figure standing there.

“Oh, you’re clever.”

The voice sounded familiar.

“But, not clever enough to beat me. Much less Bolas.” The figure disappeared.

Ajani scanned his surroundings. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, only to receive a substantially painful strike to his jaw. He stumbled back.

The remainders of the Gatewatch gasped as they finally got a look of this agent.

He dressed in leather armor, with a blue cloak draped over him. It was Jace.

“Jace?” Gideon asked, “Is that you?”

Jace turned, “How do you-” he stopped, eyes wide, “You’re...you’re him.” his face contorted in anger.

He swung his fist into Gideon’s chin, sending the combat mage flying.

Gideon got up and reeled back his fist. Jace caught the punch with telepathic magic. He twisted it, forcing Gideon to the ground.

Vines wrapped around his lower legs. Chandra’s hair lit with flames.

Jace created two copies of himself. They faced Chandra. They attacked. Chandra responded with a reactionary column of fire.

The two illusions spoke in unison, “Really, Nalaar? Fire? We’re not real.”

The illusions attacked with perfect synergy, taking advantage of Jace’s newfound martial abilities and his magical capacity.

Jace dissolved Nissa’s restraints and approached her slowly.

“You believe yourself to have unlocked new doors, Revane. You’re a child, barely able to walk, trying to traverse a long dead wasteland.” Jace grabbed the elf’s chin and forcefully tilted it up at him, “The land isn’t on your side.” Jace shoved Nissa, causing her to fall over. He created several illusory bindings that kept her on the ground.

Jace whirled around and dispelled a dragon to the aether. The new walker faced him. He could feel her telepathic probing. It was weak. Her name was Narset. She came from a plane called Tarkir. And was trained by a dragonlord.

Narset spun a strange looking spear and attacked. Jace diverted the weapon and delivered a swift kick to her head.

Under his own tutelage, Jace created a fighting style perfect for his body. It was based on precision and staying inside the opponent’s vital areas. Far superior to the style used by Narset’s masters.

Jace blocked another attack and struck Narset’s neck. She backed away, choking.

Gideon and Ajani were up again.

Jace whipped out an illusory chain that wrapped around Ajani’s legs. He pulled and set a mob of duplicates on him.

“Jace, stand down.” Gideon said.

“Ordering me around again? I’ll teach you to respect me, you self-righteous ape.” Jace growled.

Gideon whipped out his sural. The flexible blades slashed through Jace’s armor. His image popped like a soap bubble.

Gideon suddenly realized he couldn’t move his limbs.

“Jace, what the hell’s wrong with you!” Gideon shouted.

“I’ve changed, Gideon Jura.” Jace clenched his fist, “I’m stronger, smarter and more powerful than the old me ever was. And I’m no longer your sidekick.”

“What do you mean the old you?” Gideon asked.

“Do you know how much pain you’ve caused me? Thanks to your idiocy, I spent an eternity not knowing who or what I am!” Jace opened his hands.

Two blasts of energy sent Gideon and Ajani flying.

Sarkhan unleashed a torrent of draconian spells. Jace was protected by a field of counter magic.

“You, Mind mage!” Teferi shouted.

Jace turned to the chronomancer.

With a bolt of blue energy, Jace’s image dissipated into smoke.

“It was an astral projection.” Teferi said, “A phantom, nothing more.”


	2. Band Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gatewatch and Teferi gather their remaining allies and pick up an unexpected player. Meanwhile, Bolas begins dealings with the Cabal.

Jace snapped out of his meditation.

“What did you see?” Nicol Bolas asked.

“Teferi and seven other planeswalkers are planning to send teams throughout Dominaria to find remnants of a pre Mending planeswalker spark, so mana is stable in Dominaria, but planeswalkers are still without their power. They believe if they stop us and let the Mending’s effects remain, they’ll give themselves a fighting chance.”

Bolas’s eyes narrowed, “We’ll need to keep an eye on them.”

“Agreed. Tezzeret and Ral are gonna work on finding a way to instill a spark’s essence with yours, right? They won’t be available.” Jace said.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“You don’t seem worried.”

“I’ve waited decades for this day, boy. No one will stop me.”

“Anyways, it’s probably wise to have some people to stay on them at all times.”

“I’ll send some agents to strike a deal with the Cabal. They have eyes all over Dominaria. You and Vess are due for a duet. I’ll send the both of you.”

“Thank you, Lord Bolas.”

“Go let her know. You’ll depart in three days.”  
____________________________________________________________

“Bolas is probably watching us.” Teferi said, “No doubt he’ll send his top agents after us. Are you confident you can beat them?”

“Tezzeret has grown dull and predictable over the years.” Sarkhan said, “Ashiok and Ral Zarek have no more power than we do. Any other planeswalker he could find is a post Mending newbie.”

“But what about Liliana and Jace?” Chandra asked.

“You will have to judge them for yourself.” Teferi said.

“It would be unwise to underestimate Jace, but he’s nowhere near as powerful as Liliana when it comes to raw strength.” Gideon stated.

“So how do we beat her?” Nissa gave Gideon a look.

Gideon thought for a moment, “I think...I think Jace once mentioned of a hunter who was after her. A personal grudge or a curse or something. His name began with G. Garruk or something. Garruk Wildspeaker, I think his name was.”

“And where can we find this Garruk Wildspeaker?” Ajani inquired.

“I don’t know.”

Teferi thought for a moment, “Where was Garruk cursed?”

“Shandalar, I think.” Gideon said.

“That’s probably where he’ll be.”  
______________________________

Gideon and Chandra arrived in the putrid swamps of Shandalar. Perfect.

“How do we find Garruk from here?” Gideon scratched his head in thought.

“Isn’t it obvious? We set a fire.” Chandra smiled.

Chandra lit her hands ablaze and unleashed a torrent of flame, setting fire to the trees, “This’ll get his attention.” Gideon said, observing her handiwork.

As if on cue, a pair of glowing purple eyes opened from the darkness beyond the fire. The flames were snuffed out in an instant.

“Who dares to trespass on my realm of corruption?”

“Are you Garruk Wildspeaker?” Gideon asked.

“Who wants to know?”

“I am Gideon Jura, a planeswalker. We have an offer for you, Garruk. It’ll lead you right to Liliana Vess.”

“Vess? Where?”

“She’s on Dominaria. But we’ll only give you her location if you come with us.” Chandra said.

“Explain.”

“Liliana fights for Nicol Bolas now. We’re gonna stop them from reversing an event that saved the multiverse. She’ll be sent in after us to track us down.” Gideon elaborated.

“And you want me to hunt her.”

“The enemy of my enemy,” Gideon said.

Garruk stayed silent for a moment.

“This is the one chance for you to be on an even playing field.”

“I will accept your offer. But if Vess doesn’t die before we leave, you and your allies will take her place, soldier.” Garruk entered the dim light of the swamp, “I hunt planeswalkers. I will fulfill my role, no matter what. The wild has declared it so.”  
_______________________

“Remember your mission.” Bolas said, “Make a deal with the Cabal. Get them to find the Gatewatch and report to us.”

Jace and Liliana nodded.

“Take this,” Bolas handed them a talisman shaped in the likeness of the dragon’s horns, “You can use it to communicate with me. Now then,” Bolas raised his claw. It cut through the fabric of reality, creating a portal, “Let’s head to Urborg.”

Jace and Liliana turned to the portal. She grasped his hand as they warped through.

Both stepped out of the portal, confused by what they found.

“This isn’t Urborg.” Jace said.

“This is Madara.” Bolas explained as he made his way through the portal. Legions of Eternals with equipment followed, “It was once my empire to rule, but it was usurped from me when my champion, Tetsuo Umezawa killed me.”

“Killed you?” Liliana asked.

“Technically, yes. My physical body was dead, but my spirit was trapped in the meditation plane.” Bolas pointed out, “Go north and you’ll find Urborg. We will set up base here. Report back to me in three days.”

Jace nodded.

“I will lend you three hundred Eternals and an airship.And don’t be afraid to make use of the abundant power you have, Beleren.”

Both planeswalkers boarded an airship with their Eternals and lifted off for Urborg.  
_____________________

“How are we gonna do this?” Gideon asked.

“I called over my associates and old friends with a beacon. They should be here in a few minutes.” Teferi said, “I believe Ms. Nalaar knows one of them.”

“Really?” Chandra asked, “Who?”

“Jaya Ballard.”

Chandra was silent.

Her eyes were wide and unmoving, “The Jaya Ballard?”

“Yes.”

Chandra began hyperventilating with excitement, “Oh my gods! I’ve always wanted to meet her!”

Nissa was thoroughly confused, “Who’s Jaya Ballard?”

“Only the most badass, independent pyromancer planeswalker who ever lived!”

An airship the size of a small mansion came over the horizon, moving at incredible speeds.

The airship swung around Tolaria’s side and hovered above the balcony to Teferi’s office.

Two women jumped off and landed on the deck. One old, one young.

They were Jaya Ballard and Jhoira.  
____________________

Teferi and Jhoira hugged and greeted each other as Chandra went berserk over meeting her idol.

A flash of light appeared outside the school.

A shining silver golem of large size stood in the origin of it. Karn had returned at Teferi’s request.

“Karn!” Jhoira embraced the artificial being, “I missed you.”

Karn hugged her back, “As have I, old friend. What is it you needed me for?”

Jhoira let go, “Ask Teferi.”

Karn looked at the chronomancer.

“Nicol Bolas has launched an all out siege on Dominaria. He wants to regain the power he once had by tearing the place apart, looking for remnants of pre Mending planeswalker sparks.”

“What are we to do about it?” Karn asked.

“We were hoping you had a solution, as you have all of Tolaria’s archives in your system.”

Karn stayed still for a moment, “The optimal strategy is to align ourselves with the other nations of Dominaria and lead an allied front against Bolas’s forces. Urborg, Llanowar and Otaria must be defended at all costs, as they are the most likely sites of planeswalker remnants.”

“Really?” Teferi asked, “That’s great. We have nine emissaries right here. We’ll be fine.”

“That depends. Are you ready to fight?” Karn asked, “Because this will be a world war unlike any Dominaria has seen. This plane is already on the brink of death. Fighting a war of this magnitude could destroy it.”


	3. Lord of the Wastes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Teferi and the Gatewatch raid Bolas's camp while he's away in an attempt to gather information on weaponry, Jace and Liliana are dispatched to Urborg to deal with the Cabal. They're in for some unwelcome surprises.

“Our best move is a preemptive strike.” Teferi said, “We can lead a quick raid their camp. Steal some tech samples and study their weaponry. If we know what they fight with, we can beat them.”

The Gatewatch members looked at each other.

“We have the manpower. Let’s do it. Jhoira, Jaya and Karn, you hold down the fort.”

“Fine.” Gideon said.

Teferi opened a portal that the planeswalkers jumped through. They found themselves inside Madara.

And like that, the battle commenced.

Teferi, Tamiyo and Narset channeled the weather and created a small monsoon over the camp.

Tezzeret saw the planeswalkers on the edge of the camp, “Intruders! Kill those planeswalkers!”

Tezzeret dispelled the storm and summoned several spider like constructs.

Chandra blasted herself into the air and rained down a torrent of fire. Tezzeret created a metallic shield as Baltrice, their own pyromancer, met the Gatewatch’s.

Tezzeret disassembled his shield and launched a volley of metallic shards at their elementalist. Gideon got in the way of the attack. His shards simply deflected off of Gideon’s invincibility.

Jace and Liliana arrived on the scene, riding a giant illusory manta ray.

Jace leapt from the creature and landed, sending a wave of tremendous force through the ground with telekinesis.

The Gatewatch Members on the ground stumbled.

“Jace.” Gideon called, “Look at me and tell me honestly you’d rather work for Bolas.”

Jace looked at the combat mage, “I would honestly rather work for Bolas.”

“Don’t be a smart ass.”

Jace vanished, “Sorry. It’s just who I am.”

Several copies of Jace appeared from thin air, but Gideon cut them all down, “Face me like a man! Quit being a coward!”

Jace unveiled himself behind Gideon and sent a blast of force through him. Gideon flew forward, hitting the ground hard.

Jace lashed out two illusory ropes that caught Gideon’s legs. He pulled the soldier in and threw him in the other direction.

Gideon stood and summoned a legion of soldiers. Jace extended his hand as his eyes glowed blue. The legionnaires turned to their summoner, eyes also glowing, and attacked.

Gideon rose a field of invincibility, but the field was shattered with a counterspell.

Gideon swung his surral around him, slicing through his summoned creatures.

Liliana landed and attacked Teferi.

Beams of violet energy echoed with a low vibrating noise as they tore through the air from Liliana’s hands.

The power was exhilarating. Her necromancy was stronger than ever. The Chain Veil didn’t even flinch. The training was worth every second. Her rays of death ripped through any sense of life in the air like a knife to flesh.

Teferi protected himself with a barrier of blue magic.

Liliana dug her fingers into the ground and sent waves of necromancer energy through. Hundreds of zombies rose from their graves. Humans, Dauthi, Nekora, elves, goblins and dragons. The undead swarmed Teferi, battering on his shield. He raised his staff and began phasing the undead out.

Before Teferi could finish, however, another blast of magic from Jace shattered Teferi’s protection. Liliana unleashed a barrage of necrotic spells.

The chronomancer responded with a quick flurry of counterspells.

Tezzeret morphed his claw hand into an etherium blade as Ajani made his approach. The leonin imbued himself with strength, speed and agility as he swung his double headed axe like a spinning blade.

Tezzeret grabbed hold of the metal and took the blades off. He fired a barrage of shards from the metal. 

Ajani was hit, but unaffected. Tezzeret gathered metals from the earth and from weapons. He engineered a machine that resembled a Kaladesh mecha suit. Tezzeret boarded the vehicle and attacked Ajani with a massive robotic arm.

Ajani grabbed the arm and tore it off. He swung the arm into the construct and destroyed it. Tezzeret slipped out a stand of metal that swept at the leonin’s ankles. Still down, Tezzeret restricted Ajani’s limbs by encasing them in metal. Tezzeret stood and held his etherium blade to Ajani’s throat.

A torrent of dragon fire hit Tezzeret without warning. Sarkhan swooped down at the artificer and fired another blast.

Tezzeret recovered and countered the second attack. He created a metallic dragon construct from the scrapped materials around him.

Sarkhan summoned a real dragon that flew upwards to do battle with Tezzeret’s.

Chandra raced through the sky, keeping close to Baltrice, but not enough to attack. She let loose another barrage of flaming missiles.

Baltrice turned around and unleashed a cyclone of crimson hellfire.

Chandra’s flames burned white hot, like a star. She dodged Baltrice’s cyclone and launched a bolt of silvery fire.

Baltrice channeled electricity between her fingertips and cast a blast of lightning at Chandra. The pyromancer caught wind of it and was paralyzed, falling out of the sky.

Baltrice flew downwards and slammed into Chandra with two flaming fists.

Gideon was face to face with an old nemesis of the Gatewatch, Ob Nixilis.

The demon set relentless attack upon him, trying to whittle his defenses down.

Liliana was still assaulting Teferi, but Nissa had joined in.

The elf had sent waves of elementals at her, while Teferi made it so they were impervious to decay.

Liliana swarmed them with zombies. Her army outnumbered their elementals five to one.

Jace faced Tamiyo and Narset now. Both mages attacked Jace with a barrage of spells.

Jace created a counterspell shield around him. The spells merely bounced off the sphere. The mind mage fired a spell of mind wiping flame.

Tamiyo responded with a counterspell, but Jace cast one of his own before his spell was hit.

Tamiyo let the spell resolve and instead blocked the attack with a wall of ice.

Jace leapt over the wall and swung a kick towards the moon folk. Her form became incorporeal as his foot passed through her jaw.

Narset attacked from behind, placing a glyph on Jace that bound his arms. Jace dispersed the spell with an eldritch whisper.

He unleashed a wall of invisible kinetic force at Narset, hitting her hard.

Tamiyo chanted a spell as a blizzard swarmed the area. The Soratami faded from view, behind the veil of relentless wind and snow.

Jace enhanced his sight through the storm and found Tamiyo outside of its radius. He shot out an illusory chain, grappling her ankle. He pulled her back into the storm. 

Jace dispelled the storm began assaulting Tamiyo and Narset with a blitz of spells.

He pushed them back, out of the camp and sealed them out with a contingency spell that Bolas put in place.

Liliana’s zombies had Teferi and Nissa surrounded.

“Fall back!” Teferi yelled. He grabbed Nissa and teleported a short distance away. He opened a portal, allowing the other planeswalkers to evacuate before he entered and closed it.

Liliana’s zombies fell to the ground, lifeless once more. The camp was trashed. Tents were uprooted and airships were damaged. 

Bolas’s agents were exhausted.

“Are we all accounted for?” Tezzeret asked.

The general consensus was yes. Tezzeret scanned the field. Baltrice. Vess and Beleren. Baan. Ashiok. “Where’s Zarek?”

“Who’s Zarek?” Baltrice asked.

“Izzet electromancer. Our engineer.”

“I don’t see him.”

“Damnit. He was probably captured.” Tezzeret spat.

“What do we do?” Ashiok asked.

“We can’t let this go unpunished. They wanted a battle. We’ll give them a war.”  
______________________

A Cabal leader sat down with Jace and Liliana. He was an older, bald man with tattoos on his forehead, wearing elaborate black red and gold robes.

“Tell me, what is it Bolas would like from us.” The man said.

“A group of enemy agents are conspiring against us,” Jace said, “We’d like your people to keep an eye on them and report to us if they make any moves.”

“Our great lord and Nicol Bolas have been aligned for a very long time, but what you are suggesting a world wide operation. We cannot simply waste precious resources for no pay.”

“Your payment will be survival, old fool.” Liliana growled.

“Excuse me?”

“What she meant to say is, Lord Bolas is willing to spare you in his war if you assist us. However if you do not, he will have no reason not to cut you down.” Jace said.

“Do you honestly believe a mere dragon can defeat the forces of the grand demon Belzenlok, king of Urborg, so easily?”

Jace scoffed, "Mere dragon."

“Wait.” Liliana stood, “Belzenlok?”

Jace shot a look at Liliana, _Who’s Belzenlok?_

_Demon number four._

_No shit. What do we do?_

_Leave it to me._

“Yes, Belzenlok, our leader.”

“Do you mind if we meet with Belzenlok himself?” Liliana asked.

“The great demon takes no such unnoticed visitation.”

“He’ll make an exception.” Liliana smirked.  
_____________________________________________________

Liliana looked upwards to a grand golden throne. The cacophony of Cabal voices fell as a massive, dark, and winged figure flew through the sky and past them onto his throne. Members ducked, then looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of the fleeting shadow. Excited cries and hails calling to the demon rang out.

The demon rose to look down upon his subjects.

“Liliana Vess.” Belzenlok cackled, “Long time no see. Kneel before your master.”

Liliana didn’t move.

“Am I correct in assuming that you’re here to kill me?”

“News travels fast.” Liliana smiled, “You’re all that’s left. Kothophed, Griselbrand and Razaketh are dead.”

Belzenlok hesitated, “I know. Your pact is thin, Vess. I sense my control fading.”

“I’ve noticed.” Liliana’s fists erupted in Necromantic energy.

“Before you begin your assassination attempt, you should prove to me battling you is worth my time. You remember going with your family as a child to see the gladiators, Yes? I have a Champion I’d like you to warm up with.” Belzenlok grinned, flashing grotesque fangs.

Liliana scoffed, “I’ll slaughter your Champion in an instant.”

Walls rose from the swamps surrounding Belzenlok’s throne. An arena had risen from the ground.

Cabal members cheered.

“Don’t get cocky,” Jace said, “Hubris will be your downfall. I'd just go after him.”

"I can't deny him. He'll just fly away." Liliana said, "Go watch in the stands."

"But-"

"That's an order."

Jace sighed, "Fine."

"That's a good boy." Liliana planted a kiss on his lips.

"Kick some ass." Jace said before he propelled himself into the stand of the arena.

An undead knight walked onto the battlefield. Rather well, actually.

“Is this a joke, Belzenlok? A single undead knight?”

Belzenlok didn’t respond and continued smiling.

Liliana lifted her hand to destroy the knight, but something whispered in her mind: the Void awaits.

Liliana froze, her heart pounding. It was a trick.

Liliana looked closer at the knight. At its face.

“Long time, no see, little sister.”


	4. Shadows of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liliana discovers her brother Josu under the control of Belzenlok, her last demon. Her past returns to haunt her after she finds a book that looks deeper into her family's fall.

No. Liliana's heart seized in her chest. It can't be. "No!" she shouted.

Josu drew his blade, “Two hundred years, it’s been, Lili.”

Liliana’s knees failed her, as she fell to the dirt beneath her.

“Liliana.” Jace’s calls were muted, barely reaching her ears as a muffled noise, “Liliana, what happened?”

“Josu.” Her voice was choked and shaky, “I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you can muster for our little reunion? You told me that two hundred years ago.” Josu said, “And I’m still in this wretched form!”

Liliana shielded herself with her arms as if a ball had been thrown at her.

“It hurts, Lili! It’s been hurting for so long! Do even feel any guilt?” Josu shouted at his sister, “Or maybe you’ve turned into something worse than a filthy necromancer. An abomination.”

Liliana was still on the ground, covering herself like a scared child.

“Who are you?” Jace asked Josu.

“Did Lili ever tell you she had an older brother?”

“No.”

“I wonder what else she didn’t tell you.” Josu grinned, “Did she tell you about how she forever cursed her brother? Made him a monster?”

“What is he talking about?” Jace asked. He got no response.

“She poisoned me! She made me an undead husk! A crime against nature! She is a force of evil! She cares about no one but herself!” Josu raved with madness.

“I would beg to differ.” Jace said, “Liliana has shown to be uncharacteristically kind.”

“She’s using you! That’s what she does. She’s a scheming, treacherous whore!”

“Don’t listen to him, Jace. Liliana said, “You know how much I love you.”

Josu ran at Liliana. Jace tried to jump down and intercept the attack, but he found himself paralyzed. Belzenlok was interfering.

Liliana barely dodged his first swing. She summoned a scythe made of bone, using it to block his second and third strikes.

Josu bashed the scythe with his shield, shattering the handle, causing Liliana to stumble and leave herself open.

Josu ran his sword through Liliana shoulder. She screamed.

“Lili!” Jace struggled against Belzenlok’s influence, but he felt his jaw tighten, unable to move it as well. His attempts to break the magic were stifled by his own panic.

Josu ripped out his sword and swung his back fist across Liliana’s jaw. He picked her up drove his fist into her gut. Liliana coughed up blood.

Josu threw her to the ground and made a long gash from her shoulder to her hip.

Liliana, with effort, stood. But her eyes were glowing a ghastly purple. Her face bore no emotion. The Chain Veil has taken over.

The Veil fired a barrage of necromantic energy, which Josu shrugged off, being undead himself. She rose several zombies from the swamp below. They attacked, running at Josu. With stunning precision, her brother culled her zombie minions and attacked her again. 

She tried to dodge a thrust at her torso, but the edge of the blade still made contact. The gash was deep and causing her to lose even more blood. The Veil’s control faded and Liliana fell to the ground.

“Enough, Josu.” Belzenlok said, “I’ll finish her off.”

The demon swooped down and grabbed Liliana’s barely conscious body.

He drew a crooked dagger that spilled out black mist, “I hereby end our contract, Liliana Vess. You’re not worth my trouble.”

A piercing jolt of pain stabbed at Belzenlok’s head. The demon’s stance faltered as the assault on his mind brought him away from Liliana. Jace had broken the spell.

Jace blasted Josu aside and grabbed Liliana. He veiled himself in invisibility and retreated.  
___________________________________________________________________

Bolas was peeved, to say the least. Actually, he was boiling with rage. But, Bolas was a reserved individual and didn’t let his emotions show.

He want to rip Tezzeret’s spine out and watch him try to run without it.

“How could you just let them waltz into our outpost?”

“They came through a portal.” Tezzeret protested, “I couldn’t stop them.”

“Your insolence will not go unpunished. But for now, I want to mount a counter attack. They think they can simply trespass on my land because they have a bit more power.” Bolas growled, “I want to cripple them. Send Jace and Liliana to Otaria when they get back. Tell them to totally conquer the country. Leave no one alive. And I want you and Baltrice to turn the Llanowar forests to ashes. The rest of us will stay here and make sure you don’t screw up again.”

Tezzeret bowed, “Yes, Lord Bolas.”

A sigil before Bolas ignited in golden light.

“What?”

“We weren’t able to secure a deal with the Cabal.” Jace said.

“What do you mean?”

“Liliana found out Belzenlok is the object of worship for them. Did you know this?”

“Of course I knew this, boy. What happened?”

“Liliana found her way to the Cabal’s arena and challenged Belzenlok. He apparently had her brother Josu under his control and used him to defeat her. She badly wounded.”

Bolas growled, “Then stay there until you either come to an agreement or kill him!”

Bolas dispelled the enchantment.

“Is there anyone who hasn’t disappointed me today?” The dragon said to himself, “Tezzeret! Change of plan! Tell the others to take down camp!”  
__________________________________________

Jace trudged through the bog. Thorns had cut him, leeches latched onto him and insects swarmed his face.

Exhaustion was getting to him and fatigue was setting in. Especially since he had to carry Liliana. Jace was too tired to use magic, as he had to maintain their invisibility for hours to avoid members of the Cabal finding the .

Then, just on a hill, he caught sight of a manor.

Renewed with energy, Jace carried himself and Liliana up the hill and to the foot of the manor.

Once he was there, he plucked off all the leeches on his legs.

Liliana blinked awake, “Ugh...where are we?”

“Some mansion. We’re both cut up pretty bad, so if you’ve got anything left in you, I would heal yourself.” Jace winced as he pulled a thorn out of his side.

Liliana channeled a small bit of black mana and stole the life from the grass around her. Her wounds healed into scars and broken ribs to bruises.

She stood up, mostly fine. She looked down at the mind mage, “Jace, you’re….”

“Yeah, swamps are pretty nasty.”

Liliana healed him up as well.

Both planeswalkers stood.

“Do you know where we are?” Jace asked.

“Believe it or not, I do. This is what’s left of the Caligo forest. And the Vess Manor.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah. This was my childhood home. I’m guessing father didn’t care to have any more children after my spark ignited.”

“We should stay here to recuperate.” Jace said. He opened the door of the manor and set about conjuring illusions to clean up the place.

Liliana picked a book up off the ground. It had a black leather cover with golden embroidery and was titled “The Fall of the House of Vess”. Liliana recognized the author’s last name as a famous historian from Tolaria.

“Looks like they documented my family’s remaining history.” Liliana said. She opened up the book and looked through the table of contents. One chapter caught her eye. Her heart froze.

The chapter was titled “The Raven Man”. She flipped to the page number and marked it.

“I’m gonna find a place to sleep. I’m exhausted.” Jace said.

Liliana sat on an armchair in one of the many common rooms. She opened the book and began reading.

“It is widely speculated among the denizens of the Vess properties that a creature influenced the happenings from fifty years ago. Evidence among the townsfolk points to a humanoid creature being present with the last daughter of Vess while she explored the Caligo.

“The dilemma, however is that there is no evidence of a human other than Ms. Vess being present. My studies did however, recover proof of an unnatural density of ravens. Still, today, ravens plague the ruins of the Caligo forest.

“This hunch intrigued me further. I investigated the ruins of the Caligo. There is a single standing tree, that has been dead for many, many years and has a habit of attracting ravens. For months, I dug about this tree and I finally found a hatch. Underneath the tree, is the entrance to a tomb.”

Liliana stopped reading and immediately left the manor. She ran through the burnt field of ashes that was once the Caligo forest. About half a mile away from the manor, was the standing dead tree.

The necromancer summoned several undead to find this hatch. She couldn’t let this chance to find out something about the Raven Man go to waste.

One zombie found a wood panel and removed it. A stone staircase went deep underground. Liliana lit a necromantic fire in her palm and headed down them.

Liliana opened the book again.

“Within this tomb, where ancient inscriptions from the Thran Empire. I was ecstatic. My research about the Thran drew me to the Vess in the first place. I translated the inscriptions as best I could.

“They describe the inhabitant as a corrupt advisor to their emperor. The Thran buried him in what they believed to be cursed land, so that his soul would be forced to wander the forest forever in endless torment. My current theory is that this man’s spirit influences those to wander near and force them to suffer his punishment as well, putting them on an endless journey, never granting his victims rest. It is likely the Vess girl had fallen to this curse.”

Liliana cast a circle of purple flames, lighting up the walls and their inscriptions.

In the center of the dark room, was a coffin, with a piece of paper pinned to it with a knife.

Liliana grabbed the message and read it aloud, “I made a mistake. This spirit is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. His essence is too powerful to be of this world. Many of my team members have reported seeing a man with golden eyes and white hair and those who have, have fallen ill. This spirit is a mental parasite, that feeds off the essence of others to sustain itself. Under no condition is anyone to open this coffin. The longer his spirit plagues the mind of anyone, he will rejuvenate and perhaps revive himself from the dead.”

A creak echoed from behind her. Liliana unleashed a ball of necromancy at the source. It passed right through the Raven Man.

“Your little bit of research has done you good, Liliana.” The Raven Man croaked.

“Get out of my head, parasite!” Liliana shouted.

“What are you going to do about it? I’ve had two centuries to wrap your tiny little mind around my finger.”

Liliana’s vision was distorted and the world around her became a dead world of barren rock.

“Is this illusion supposed to scare me?” Liliana called out. No answer.

“Why?”

Liliana whirled around. Josu stood before her, alive and well, before the accident.

“Why did you do it?”

“I had no other choice, brother. The Esis root was burned.” Liliana said, keeping her guilt back. Josu’s form rotted and decayed until he was just like what she saw in the arena. She was repulsed by the display.

“Then what about us?” Liliana turned again to find two maids and a butler from her days as a child. She had killed them to defend herself against Josu.

“I had to protect myself.”

“Why me?” Liliana turned once more to face Lady Ana, her healing teacher, “I told you what could happen. Your stupidity got us killed.”

“Or us?” Several citizens she had killed when she first got to Innistrad.

“Was my life nothing to you? Or my husband’s and children’s?” More collateral lives lost.

“What about my parish? You killed all of us just to practice your dark arts.”

Soon, every life, every man woman and child Liliana had killed surrounded her. She was boxed in by the lives she had taken. Their bodies dissolved into a vortex of black souls.

So many voices. So many cries for help. Pleas for mercy.

“What if you had been us.”

“What if you had been us.”

“What if you had been us.”

“What if you had been us.”

“What if you had been us.”

They plagued her mind. She couldn’t even hear herself think. She couldn’t form coherent sentences any more.

She just screamed.

“Liliana!” She didn’t want it anymore. Silence. Please just give her silence.

“Liliana!” The vision dissipated.

Jace was the only real voice there.

“Liliana, what happened?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Jace picked up the book next to her, “The Raven Man.” He read aloud.

“You called?” A man with golden eyes and white hair stepped from the shadows.

Liliana scrambled back with frantic urgency.

Jace’s eyes glowed with vibrant intensity, trying to crack the man’s thoughts.

“It’s no use, telepath.”

“Who are you?” Jace asked.

“I’m an old companion of Liliana’s.”

“No, I mean who are you? What are you?”

“You’re in no position to demand information from me, boy.” The Raven Man growled.

“Jace, look at the inscriptions.” Liliana said, “Can you translate them?”

Jace scanned the writing on the wall, “So you’re a planeswalker.”

“I knew it!” Liliana hissed.

“Yes, indeed I am. Thousands of years ago, during the Thran Empire. I was killed, but somehow, my spirit remains.”

“You want to come back, don’t you?” Jace suggested, “So you feed off the essence of others to restore yourself. Liliana’s Immortal, so you could feed off her forever.”

“You’re a bright one.”

“But if you’re a planeswalker, that means…” Jace threw up an illusory cyclone of wind. The Raven Man yelled in surprise, “Liliana, his spark is in his coffin! Take it!”

Liliana ripped the top of the coffin off to see the body of a young man. She placed a hand on his chest and began tugging at his life force.

A bright, golden light rose from the body’s chest.

“No!” The Raven Man lunged at Liliana. Her eyes glowed gold and she froze. The Raven Man had control over her body.

Liliana struggled. Jace forced the Raven Man to stay corporeal and tackled him to the ground.

Jace grabbed the Raven Man's temples and broke the enchantment. He then bound the Raven Man with Ethereal chains.

Liliana absorbed the spark and felt a rush of power. The tattoos of her demonic contracts glowed a luminous violet.

“You foolish girl!” The Raven Man yelled, “You’ve undone thousands of years of work!”

“And I’ve gained the control I need.” Liliana breathed, “You’re a spirit. You’re undead.”

“Your not worth my time any longer.” The Raven Man scowled. He glared at Liliana, attempting to cause another vision. His arm wouldn't move.

Liliana turned to the Raven Man with a malicious grin, “You'd best bow to your queen.”  
________________________________ 

Jhoira entered Teferi’s office.

“Jhoira. Do you need something?” Teferi asked.

“No. I have something for you.” She handed a sphere wrapped in cloth to him.

“What is it?”

“Your spark.”

Teferi’s eyes widened, “How…”

“Well, what’s left of it. I’ve kept it out of reach, but now we need it more than ever. It might revitalize you.”

Teferi unwrapped the sphere to reveal a crystal ball. The essence of Teferi’s spark swam in the formation.

Could it really make him young again?

“Thank you, Jhoira.”

But what about the consequences? Would it plague him with unwanted power once more?

Teferi contemplated over the crystal.

“I’ll think about it.” Teferi said, “


	5. The Curse of the House of Vess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liliana returns for a rematch with Belzenlok to finally set herself free.

“You sure about this?” Jace raised an eyebrow.

“Please. If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t.” Liliana said, “I just need you to tie down Josu. I’ll free him soon enough.”

“Right.”

“Let’s go.” Liliana turned and commanded her Eternals, “Attack the demon!”

Waves of lazotep and sinew bodies descended into the swamp laid fortresses and temples.

Jace rode the two of them in on a phantasm.

They landed at Belzenlok’s throne.

The demon was flashing a rotten, fang filled grin, “Are you really that much of a fool, Vess?” Josu entered view, “Before you start, I linked ourselves. Whatever damage you do to me, is instead done to brother dearest.”

“Bullshit.” Liliana’s hands were engulfed in roaring violet flames.

Belzenlok drew a jagged dagger and made a gash on his cheek. There was no cut. Josu winced and covered the same part of his own cheek.

“You slimy bastard.” Liliana growled.

“And you still have your pact.” Belzenlok’s eyes glowed bright orange, “Prostrate yourself.”

Liliana’s tattoos burned with fire like light as she fell to her knees, bowing to the demon.

Jace had disappeared from view.

“Are you kidding me?” Liliana hissed.

“Be silent.” Liliana felt her jaw lock up. She struggled. The Chain Veil exploded with violet energy, but Belzenlok barely flinched, “Kothophed and Griselbrand were incompetent. Razaketh was weak. But I have grown stronger everyday. My influence spreads. My seed is planted in all corners of the world.”

Belzenlok’s arm shot out like a snake and caught Jace by the throat. His invisibility vanished.

“Do you think me a fool, boy? I am the Infernal Overlord. More powerful than any demon. I am the incarnation of all the multiverse’s hatred. And I feel yours, Jace Beleren.” Belzenlok cackled, “Yes, yes. You hate more than anyone I’ve met. You hate me. You hate your former allies. You hate Nicol Bolas. You hate your job. You hate the public. And what’s ironic about all this hate, is that you hate yourself most of all. The one thing you don’t hate is something you can’t have. She serves me.”

“I’ll tear your mind apart.” Jace choked out.

“Yes! Let that anger out, Beleren. It only fuels my lungs.”

Belzenlok slammed Jace into the stone floor.

Liliana screamed in her head, NO! Don’t you dare hurt him! Kill that damned demon!

Jace was trying to stay conscious, but Belzenlok was choking it out of him. The demon’s massive claw closed tighter around his throat. His breath escaped, without any to replace it. The edges of his vision darkened as he felt himself go numb.

Somebody! Don’t let Jace die!

Suddenly, a wisp of black smoke rammed into Belzenlok. He yelled in pain and grabbed his head.

Jace was let go of and Liliana felt herself able to move again.

The Raven Man appeared next to her, “I distracted him.”

“Good. You’re dismissed.” Liliana said, “Belzenlok! Let’s settle this score.”

Liliana blasted the demon with necrotic lightning. The demon was weakened, but not felled. Instead, Josu screamed. His chest was scarred with black flesh. Belzenlok in turn, tried to activate Liliana’s pact. The spell got her to one knee, but she resisted.

Belzenlok snarled, “Stay down, Vess.”

Liliana, the curse is fueled by a constant stream of mana. Every time you hit him, it takes more of his power.

Liliana wasn’t fond of Jace’s mental intrusion, but the information was helpful. She unleashed her necromantic power in an aura of death. Belzenlok took the hit, but the damage transferred to Josu. He writhed in pain. As much as it hurt her to see her brother like that, he was undead. And she needed to break that curse.

Belzenlok went for an attack, but his claws were caught by Liliana’s hand. The area of contact began decaying. Josu roared in pain as chunks of blackened flesh fell from his bone. Belzenlok couldn’t keep the cost up and the curse vanished. Josu’s cries quieted as Belzenlok’s grunts grew. The demon sliced the throat of one of his followers and used his blood to heal the freshly rotten wound.

Liliana drew on the Chain Veil and made an incision in her palm with her dagger. She whispered several eldritch chants as torn bat wings that stretched like old canvas extended from her back. Fangs grew from her kanines and sharpened claws from her nails. Horns grew from her forehead as her visceral transformation from human to part demon completed.

Liliana flashed a menacing, bloodthirsty smile.

Belzenlok raised his arm to the sky. Blasts of black magic rained from the sky in beams of destruction magic.

Liliana rushed at Belzenlok, tackling him through his temple wall and into the swamp.

Belzenlok and Liliana grabbed each other, struggling to wrestle the other to the ground. Liliana sent waves of death magic through Belzenlok, crippling his grip. Liliana threw him into a tree, smashing it to smithereens.

Belzenlok stood and uprooted another tree, smashing it into Liliana and causing her to fly back.

Liliana stood and prepared another spell.

Suddenly a jolt of pain shot through her. The solemn, silvery blade of a sword was protruding through her abdomen. Liliana returned to her human form. She let out a shaky breath before the blade was taken out and she fell to into the shallow waters.

“Josu.” She wheezed, “Why?”

“Because of what you’ve done to me. No, to the entire House of Vess!”

“What?” Liliana croaked.

“What do you think happened after you left? They died. All of them. Father tried to lay me to rest. I killed him myself. Mother took our sisters away, searching for a cure for me. And searching for you. She thought you lived, thought you'd been stolen away. She followed a rumor of magic that could save me and the journey killed her. Others took up the burden, our sisters, our cousins, trying to stop me, to destroy me. All of them died." Josu snarled with true hatred permeating his voice, “You killed them.”

Belzenlok cackled, “Good job, Josu. You’ve really done it this time.” Belzenlok smiled and put a claw on his back, “But you’ve run out of usefulness to me.” Josu yelled as Belzenlok stole away his undead life force. Josu fell to the ground, regurgitating a viscous black ichor.

Jace pushed himself through the temple wall with effort and stumbled over to Liliana.

“Your care for this dog is getting on my nerves.” Belzenlok said, “Perhaps, after I kill you, I’ll have her for myself. I won’t judge your taste. She is attractive.”

Jace stood put himself in front of her, saying nothing, but keeping a determined glare in his eye.

Liliana groaned, “Jace, this is my fight. I can take it.”

“Heal yourself so you can actually take it. Otherwise, I’m stepping in.”

“After I kill you, maybe I’ll make her a concubine. You can roll over in your grave every night you hear her screams for you. Her cries for help.”

Jace simply continued glaring at the demon. His hands glowed a blinding bright blue, preparing to take another mind.

“I feel that desire to kill radiating off you. Your hatred gives me power, Beleren. I thought you’d be smarter than this.”

Jace raised a single hand, “You’re right. I do have a desire to kill. So, die.”

A massive amount of force hit Belzenlok like an airship. The demon was sent flying through trees and into the dirt.

Jace pulled him back, dragging the demon through the dirt, mud and water. The mind mage slammed the demon’s head to the ground. He unleashed a point blank vortex of memory erasing magic.

The mind mage ground Belzenlok’s memories, burning away moment after moment.

But before Jace could finish him, Belzenlok hit Jace aside. He grabbed him by the leg and tossed him like a ragdoll into the wall of a temple.

Liliana stood, barely stopping the bleeding with her magic. Eternals assaulted the demon on her command, pinning him to the ground.

Belzenlok threw the Eternals off him and rushed at Liliana again.

He pinned her to the ground, “You are mine! Do you understand me? You belong to me. I made you. I own you! If Kothophed, Griselbrand and Razaketh couldn’t get their own servant under control, that’s just a show of their incompetence. You will submit to me, Liliana. And then both you and your brother will be at my beck and call.”

“Get off me!”

“You dare give me commands?”

A blade burst through Belzenlok’s throat. The demon let go of her and squirmed, trying to pull the blade out.

Josu rolled over, tar like substance spilling from him like blood. Liliana just stared at him. The injuries she had inflicted on Belzenlok covered his body.

He coughed, “You betrayed me, sister. And it hurt. But his lapse in judgement restored my own. I’d rather see you free than under that scum’s control.” Josu strained, with calm in his voice

“Rest now, brother.” Liliana smiled gratefully, a tear welling up in her eye, “Thank you, Josu. I’ll always love you.”

Josu grinned. He seemed content, “My time is here. But so is his. Go now. End him.”

Liliana stood again. She expanded her reach as far as it would go. Her demonic tattoos seeped with blood. She became one with all the death in the swamp. The corpse of every creature became an extension of herself.

A menagerie of death climbed from the bog. A horde comparable to the Eternals. Goblins, Merfolk, Elves, Angels, and all sorts of creatures were at her command. She felt connected to every arm, wing and fin.

They ran at Belzenlok, tearing, cutting and pulling at him. The demon did his damnedest to fight them off, but the numbers overwhelmed him. The corpse pinned him to the ground, for good this time.

“Your time is over Belzenlok. It’s time you join the others in the yawning abyss.” Liliana said, with great effort. She placed a hand on his forehead.

A surge of necrotic power radiated through the demon’s body. He screamed in pain as his hands and feet started decaying.

Black magic ran through his veins, destroying his flesh. Liliana consumed as rot infected and mutilated his limbs.

“Accept your death with grace, Belzenlok. You bound me with a contract that could only end in your death. And you thought me the fool.”

Belzenlok’s eyes burned with hellfire as he struggled and roared and screamed. His flesh dissolved, slowly climbing up his chest and torso.

“You will regret this, Vess! Death will find you! You’ve cheated it for long enough!” Belzenlok roared with his final breath, “Your brother was right about you! You are an abomination against nature! The Curse of the House of Vess!”

The echoes of Belzenlok’s final cries reached the ears of all his followers that day. The Cabal was without their demon lord. And Liliana was at last masterless.


	6. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liliana is rid of her pact. Pyromancers of past and present finally meet. And Teferi and Gideon Interrogate their prisoner.
> 
> Sorry this chapter is so short. I've been swamped with all kinds of work this past week. But next week, I've got a pretty big and awesome chapter, so look forward to that.

“Hi!”

Jaya was startled as a redheaded girl wearing goggles just like hers ran up to her. She was the new group’s pyromancer.

“Hello. Can I help you?”

“My name’s Chandra. Huge fan.”

“Jaya. Ballard. But you already knew that.”

“So, I’ve heard all the stories from the Keral Keep.” Chandra said, “In fact, I was probably the number one abbot there. But, there’s no way I could measure up to your power.”

Jaya had actually found Chandra’s admiration amusing, much to the older pyromancer’s surprise.

“Anyways I was wondering, because there’s the huge war and everything, if you could show me a few moves. I gotta brush up on some fancier skills, but haven’t gotten the chance.”

“You wanna learn from the best?” Jaya asked.

“More than anything.”

“I saw your fight with Bolas’s pyromancer. You’ve got some talent. But barely any control. It doesn’t matter if your flames burn as bright as the sun. If you can’t control them, you might as well strap yourself to a bomb and throw yourself into battle.” Jaya said, “Until you can show me the control my monks teach, I can’t train you.”

“But, why? I thought that was the essence of our way. To be free, not to follow.”

“Freedom is not savagery, Chandra. To be free is to know yourself and enjoy using that knowledge to better the Multiverse. Not unleashing it as you please in bursts of unstable chaos.”

Chandra hesitated, ready to protest again, but changed her mind, “I understand. If I am able to teach myself control, will you accept me as your pupil?”

Jaya raised a silvery eyebrow, “I’ll consider it.”  
______________________________________________________

Gideon and Teferi both stared dubiously at their captive.

The Izzet Electromancer from Ravnica stared with boredom at the two.

“What do we do with him?” Teferi asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never interrogated someone before.”

“Okay…” Teferi stood and approached Ral Zarek, “What’s Bolas’s plan?”

Ral glared at the time mage, then cracked a smile and scoffed.

“Listen, Electromancer, I don’t want to use any magic to force the information out of you, so just do this the easy way.”

“Oh, yeah. And while I’m at it, why don’t I just give Bolas my home address so he can tear my mind apart piece by piece as I scream for the pain to stop. I’d rather put up with your control magic than face Bolas’s wrath. And I think that’s true for all of us that serve him.”

“Very well.” Teferi held the end of his staff in Ral Zarek’s face. The orb glowed with a vibrant blue light. Ral strained as the tendrils of Teferi’s control magic crawled into his mind, “Where are you, Bolas?”

Teferi stopped when his magic reached a barrier. The walls around the electromancer’s mind were smooth and featureless, like dark obsidian. There seemed to be no entry, nothing to even latch onto. This was Bolas’s work. No telepath could pierce this unless under the tutelage of Bolas himself.

Ral chuckled, “Hit a roadblock?”

“What is it?” Gideon asked.

“It’s Bolas. His mind is blocked off by his magic. I can’t touch him.” Teferi said. He cursed as his magic retreated.  
_____________________________________

Liliana stood over the skeleton that was left of Belzenlok’s body.

She couldn’t help but giggle. That giggle turned into a laugh. That laugh into a full cackle of ecstasy. At last! At long last! She was free!

“Finally! Two hundred years!” Liliana was still stunned by the fact that it was over, “No more demons! No more Chain Veil! No more Raven Man!” Liliana shouted between fits of excited laughter. For the first time in a long time, tears of joy rolled down her face.

Jace. Liliana scrambled over to Jace’s broken body and healed him with no effort.

Jace weakly opened his eyes, “Liliana? Did you do it?”

“I did!” Liliana laughed and hugged him.

Liliana’s body lit up with her demonic tattoos. The light shattered like glass, its essence rising into the air. The scars left by them healed themselves. Power surged in her. No longer restrained by her contracts, her power was left untamed by any master but herself.

“Your tattoos…” Jace said.

“They’re gone. My contracts are void. And I have myself to myself again!”

Jace touched Liliana’s flawless skin. He was so used to seeing runes covering her, but now, she looked more beautiful than ever. Despite the blood, mud and dirt.

“I’m finally free.” Liliana said, “I’m no longer a servant to anyone.”

“Well, not anyone. We should get back to Bolas.” Jace urged, but it was clear that Liliana was too caught up in the moment.

“It’s been sixty years since I felt this kind of power.” Liliana giggled, seeming a little unstable.

“Lili.” Jace said sternly. She looked at him, “Let’s go.”

“Right.”

Jace and Liliana boarded their airship along with their remaining Eternals. With blinding speed, they traveled through Urborg and back to Madara in a matter of hours.

But what they came back to was...less than optimal.

The camp was gone. Everything was gone. It was once again just the barren land.


	7. Tolaria Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teferi and friends find an armada of airships on the horizon.
> 
> Hour of Eternity had me inspired.

Sirens rang out across Tolaria West.

Teferi looked out into the ocean, greeted by a terrifying sight.

A fleet of airships approached the school, accompanied by a massive golden dragon.

Projectiles of magical energy assaulted the school’s barriers, distorting their image in ripples.

“What’s going on? Why’s Bolas here?” Gideon asked.

“I don’t know. Rally the others. I’m needed by my students.” Teferi said.

Gideon nodded and ran off. Teferi left the room through a window and floated down to the school’s entrance.

“Headmaster, what are your orders?” Naban, a dean of the school, asked.

“Set up defensive measures and prepare to launch a counter attack. Set off the nullifier and take out those airships.” Teferi said.

“Sir.” Naban affirmed.

The barrage of magic ceased. All was silent.

Nicol Bolas landed in the shallow water. His head reared back and unleashed a torrent of dragon fire. The flames hit the force field around Tolaria, shaking the foundations.

The fire burst through the shield, dissipating their defense. Bolas cut through the taller towers with his flames, causing them to collapse on smaller structures.

Bolas’s armada resumed firing, now doing damage. They slowly closed in on the academy.

Wizards of all kinds began mounting a counter offensive, launching their own magical attacks.

Gideon met Teferi with his allies.

“We need to get our defenses back up.” Teferi said, “Gideon, Karn and Ajani. Come here.”

Teferi locked arms with the other three planeswalkers as a field of golden simmering light encased the school, in the place of its old barrier.

“The rest of your focus on taking out their ships.” Teferi said, “Jhoira, bring the Weatherlight around.”

Jhoira nodded and ran off.

Nissa launched a volley of boulders at the fleet, while Chandra and Jaya took off on jets of fire to meet the fleet head on.

Garruk roared with might and launched himself into the fray. Sarkhan and Narset rode on dragons to assist in the battle.

Tamiyo established a telepathic channel between all of them.

Nissa’s projectiles bounced off several shields that encased each ship. The attacks from Chandra and Jaya had no effect, while Garruk, Narset and Sarkhan couldn’t get close.

“Keep this going.” Teferi said. He broke from his group and unleashed a wave of magic. The shields around Bolas’s fleet dissipated as the magic passed through.

But the ships had already made it to shore.

“Retreat!” Teferi shouted, “All students retreat!”

Eternals stormed the island.

“All students! Retreat! Don’t try to fight the Eternals! They can use magic and are expert fighters! Get out of here! Everyone else, get ready!” Teferi commanded.

The students of Tolaria West retreated from the Academy. The lazotep undead scattered, breaking formation.

Several of the wizards cohesively raised a tidal wave from the ocean beyond. The water slammed down on the Eternals, sweeping many of them out to sea.

Bolts of lightning, fire, water, earth, wind and ice were traded from either side.

Amongst the fray, Chandra and Jaya landed with a fiery quake.

Jaya shouted at her, “Take this as a trial lesson, Chandra! When dealing with multiple opponent’s take as many of them out at once as possible!”

Jaya unleashed a barrage of fire bolts from her palm. Her flames were orange, not as hot as Chandra’s, but masterfully precise. Every bolt hit an Eternal between the eyes, disorienting them.

Chandra ran through the enemy ranks, trailing flames and combustion behind her. She blasted herself into the air and fired a bombardment of pyromantic missiles. The ground was engulfed in fire.

She landed next to Nissa, who was raising summoning ranks upon ranks of elementals.

“How have you been, Chandra?”

“Eh. Alright.” Chandra boiled the stone below them.

“Did Jaya turn down your offer?” Nissa launched slugs of molten rock into the air.

“Yeah. Can you believe she said I have no control?” Chandra unleashed a cone of fire at a squad of Eternals that had gotten close.

“You probably,” Nissa summoned a stone elemental the size of a building, “Should spend some time practicing technique.”

“Maybe later. Let’s just hope everyone can make it out alive.”  
________________________________________

Edward had never been a real fan of Tolaria West. School spirit wasn’t really his thing. But the state of the school now made his feelings irrelevant. His mana had taken a huge dent and exhaustion was setting in. His arm was growing tired of casting. His head pounded and blood dripped from his nose.

Just minutes before hundreds of nightmarish creatures with blue armor and skull faces had burst through the shores of Tolaria, slaughtering all in their path. The headmaster had called them "Eternals." Edward saw his peers, whether they were student or teacher or barely known acquaintance, fall to the Eternals' blades. The sheer brutality terrified him.

But he kept going. He kept going for those who could not face these Eternals. He kept fighting for his students. For his fellow teachers. For anyone he could help save.

For the first time, he felt that rush. That high called the glory of battle. The feeling commonly associated with barbarians and brute warriors now filled this mage’s heart. For the first time, he was proud to fight on the front lines for Tolaria.

But reality had not escaped him. He was going to lose. He’d seen the Eternals counter spells and use magic just like they could. Not only that, but they were highly adept at physical combat as well.

The Eternals closed in on him. He narrowly dodged a swing of a curved sword. 

It wasn't that they were better than him, though his opponents had some of the best bladework and magical responses he had ever fought against and they had lost none of their skill in death. He was a master of elemental magic himself, in the prime of his ability.

It wasn't that there were two of them against him alone, though the odds were not in his favor. He had chosen his quick casting elemental spells precisely because of its usefulness in fighting multiple opponents, and he felt a thrill as he slipped by a strike and fired an ice shard and countered a flame spell, his hands a direct extension of his mind, changing between relaxed and tense as he kept himself alive for another counterspell, another blast, another breath. One more breath.

No, he was going to lose this fight because he would tire. And they would not.

He was going to die. Eventually. But his will to fight wavered. He wouldn’t die now. Not right now.

It was anger that had propelled him into combat. Innocent wizards died in the initial onslaught, students died as they ran screaming, some wizards died begging for Serra. The Eternals killed them all, no touch of mercy staying their blades.

He attracted the attention of two of the Eternals even as countless others streamed by him in their pursuit of slaughter. But these two he could stop.

Except he would not even be able to accomplish that. He would not fall to their blades. At least not easily. But while they would not kill him quickly, they were too good for him to overcome. Around him, other mages had joined the wider battle on the beach, but he heard the sounds of their labored breathing, their tired incantations, their gurgling last cries.

A few minutes ago, an eternity ago, panic had threatened to overwhelm him. He was strong, skilled and used to practicing spell casting for hours over the course of a day in his normal upkeep. . . but never without stopping, never without a single moment to rest, never against opponents who were faster, stronger, and did not sweat or tire or slip.

The panic grew in his chest until he had discovered his will to fight. Then his breathing evened, and the ache in his shoulders and temples grew distant, and the fire in his lungs burned slow, and his arms continued to move and move and move by the sheer strength of his will.

One more moment. That’s all he needed. More students made it through the gates of the school. He didn’t have time to wish them any luck. It hurt to move. It hurt to create the tiniest flame. It hurt gather mana. It hurt to breathe.

Edward set his foot down. Half an inch off. And then the world went dark.  
__________________________________

Drea should have given up when Naru Meha died.

Her teacher had been present in her life from her earliest memories as a mage. Her kindness, her sternness, her presence a constant pull toward being a better mage. To train with Naru, to study under her, to bask in the light of her knowledge, was a constant as true as the sun in the sky . . . until her light was snuffed out, ended by the swing of an axe.

Drea should have felt despair. Should have felt panic. But instead she only felt rage. A bright, consuming anger, all doubt and fear burnt away by its white-hot clarity.

She had knelt at Naru’s side as her blood seeped out of her, whose eyes were already a dull gray. The beach was scarred by magic and battle. Most had fled the threat of the Eternals, but Drea remained, uncaring of any desire but seeing her teacher and idol one last time.

In the midst of the battle, no one cared when Drea picked up Naru’s staff, its fine blade on the end making it more like a spear. While the staff was no longer imbued directly with the mage’s power, Drea still felt a humming energy within it, an echo of the mana gathered prior.

She was a devoted student and Mage, proud and powerful, and she would see her greatest mentor avenged today.

A thunderous clacking sound grew behind her and she turned to see a minotaur Eternal charging toward her at full speed, its long-bladed axe raised high. Drea had time only to brace with her new-found spear against the charge.

The minotaur crashed into the spear's point, and Drea felt a surge of power. There was a flash of blue light as the minotaur disintegrated, its blue lazotep armor crumbling to dust from the power. Whether it was hers or someone else’s, she didn’t care.

She stood there panting as her anger continued to rise; it would not be satiated until every Eternal was reduced to dust.

And then she saw him.

It was the horns she saw first, the long curved shape so familiar to her eyes. Those horns were everywhere in the library’s ancient texts, and she knew there was only one being to whom they could belong.

It was the Eldest One himself. Nicol Bolas.

He was massive, larger than any giant or dragon. A strange golden egg hovered between his serpentine horns. And he was most certainly an elder dragon. Her mind faltered for a moment, wondering briefly if this was some kind of illusion, some spell of the Cabal. An attack on her mind.

The clarity of her rage provided an answer, and it hit her with such stunning force that she knew its truth immediately.

This dragon is not an illusion. This dragon is real. This is the being we have studied all our lives. Her stomach roiled, her head feverishly hot.

She screamed her challenge into the darkening sky, raising her spear to Nicol Bolas. "I will kill you!" She sprinted toward him.

Her scream had attracted the attention of a large group of neighboring Eternals, and they ran, slithered, and flew to intercept her.

Protect me. Give me strength. Drea had never believed in any religion. And she did not know, really, to whom she was praying, but that didn’t lessen her confidence that someone would provide.

And someone, or rather something, did. A glowing, pulsing shield formed around Drea, a tangible expression of a mage’s power. Eternals crashed into the shield and bounced off as Drea continued untouched to the dragon.

Help me strike true. Drea launched the spear into the air and it flew with speed and accuracy she knew she could never have achieved alone. It shone in the air as it hurtled toward the side of the unsuspecting dragon's neck.

The Eternals on all sides continued to pound on the force-shield that surrounded her, but to no avail. She would see vengeance done this day.

At the last possible second, a flash of gold crossed her vision. The weapon had been shattered like glass, destroyed in an instant. The pieces dropped uselessly to the ground below.

The dragon regarded the broken staff for a moment, and then spoke, his voice thunder in a storm, "There have been many like you in the past, child. I admire your zeal. . .” here the dragon paused, sparing her a glance, "in another time, you might have been useful." There was no hate nor anger in his glance, but rather a dry bemusement.

His display of nonchalance accomplished what a draconic rage could not. She collapsed under the weight of his disregard, stunned at how much of her life he had made pointless without any emotion. She realized it would’ve been far kinder to have her life torn away with angry purpose.

She knelt there nearly senseless as her shield began flickering. Flickering, and then it was gone.

The Eternals closed in, and Drea did not have strength left to scream.  
______________________________

Izyrin ran with her lover, Ekabus. Both were students and they ran with everyone else. They had seen the Eternals’ and their capacity to kill.

But the two of them together were unstoppable. As long as they stuck together, they could make it out alive.

Izyrin was a powerful fire and earth mage. Which was very helpful, since hitting the Eternals with large rocks proved to be an effective strategy. Much in contrast, Ekabus was a water and air mage. Together, they made up the four core elements.

Despite their natural talent for magic, they had their limits. Ekabus knew this. The Eternals never ran out of mana and their arms never tired.

Both wizards ran into a blockade of other students. Ekabus hovered above the ground to look over the crowd.

“What is it?”

“There’s a bunch of Eternals out there. They’re blocking the airships.”

People screamed as a marching line of Eternals came up the rear of the crowd.

Ekabus was hit by several other wizards as they scrambled for their lives. He stood up and in the moment he had taken his eyes off her, Izyrin was gone.

“Izyrin! Izyrin!" Ekabus frantically screamed his lover's name into the sky. In the distance he saw the blue armored killers, their grotesque shapes a mockery of their former selves. He knew that to face them alone was to die, but if he did not find Izyrin, then he would welcome death. Without her, he had no chance of survival.

He remembered they had pledged themselves to each other months before, proclaiming their love. Later that night, in the quiet grove of a courtyard where they had secluded themselves, she had looked up at him, her wide brown eyes the only sight he ever wanted to see.

"I will always be with you, Ekabus," she said. Now, he failed to see how that could be true.

"I will always be with you, Izyrin." As he said it, he became convinced it would become the truth, despite how unrealistic it sounded. It felt more true than anything else among Tolaria’s books.

After the airships had landed, someone shouted that there was an old airship fleet on the opposite shore of the island that would be safe. They ran as part of a large group, Ekabus and Izyrin trying to hold them off best they could.

As long as we are together, he thought, and he clung to that thought desperately. If he was with her, then everything would be alright.

Then someone screamed, and the Eternals rushed the crowd from every side with raised swords, axes, and scythes. One leaped directly in front of Ekabus, a naga, smooth and sinuous, casting a spell of blue fire that disintegrated several people behind them.

The naga cast another spell of the same variety at Ekabus. With effort, he countered the spell and sent a large gust of wind at the Eternal, casting it back into the ranks. But when he turned around, Izyrin was gone.

He had failed her. He had abandoned her. "Izyrin!" he screamed, wildly swinging his head, desperate for a glimpse.

He flew into the air and scanned the crowd.

There! Through the air, he flew like a drake, her brown hair and fiery robes unmistakable. Even as he ran to her side, he saw the gathering crowd of Eternals flanking her, but nothing would stop him this time, even if he had to fight them all.

Both wizards fought with valor, but they were no match for the numbers the Eternals had.

Ekabus saw a flash of blue light in his periphery. Cold steel ran down his back and blood seeped out of the wound. Pain blossomed in Ekabus as he fell to his knees.

“Ekabus!” Izyrin screamed.

“No! Don’t worry about me!” Ekabus said, coughing.

Izyrin raised a dome of stone around them. She knelt at his side, “What are you talking about? I swore I’d be with you until the end.”

Ekabus’s vision was getting blurry, “You can still save yourself.”

“I’d rather die than leave you behind.” Izyrin embraced Ekabus.

A blade pierced the dome. A slam of an axe caused it to crumble.

Izyrin was not afraid. Fire enveloped her and Ekabus, “Stay back, you abominations!”

The Eternals were undaunted and continued into her fiery aura, unharmed. A Minotaur raise its axe and let it fall on both of them.

Only darkness remained in the void of their dead love.  
__________________________

A massive airship, larger than any of those in Bolas’s fleet rose from Tolaria’s ruins and began an assault.

Bolas met the Weatherlight head on. He shrugged off two massive slugs of raw mana and fired a stream of violet lightning at the ship. Several mages onboard countered the spell and fired an ice spell back. The spell hit his arm. The ice fell off in a matter of seconds.

Teferi was distracted from the battle in the sky when one Eternal bashed its shoulder into him, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the ground. The Eternal raised its khopesh and brought it down. Gideon got in the way, protecting both of them with a field of invincibility.

An eternalized Ammit slammed down onto the shield, dissipating it. Gideon tackled the beast to the ground. Teferi ran out of the Eternal’s range.

He disarmed the undead soldier, but that didn’t stop it. The Eternal rammed its knee into Teferi’s gut. The time mage coughed up blood from the blow and fell to the ground. The Eternal grabbed his cloak, punched him in the jaw and threw him over its shoulder.

Teferi tried to cast an illusion, but the mana wouldn’t come. There was never enough. Never enough power. Not even to survive.

The Eternal grabbed its blade and held it over his head.

Teferi grabbed the crystal containing his spark and crushed it in his hands, bloodying it with cuts. The spark rushed back into Teferi’s torso, revitalizing him.

Power exploded throughout the battlefield, vaporizing the Eternal that threatened his life.

Teferi’s skin tightened over newly grown muscle. His youth hadn’t fully come back to him, but it was enough to prevent the effects of an elderly body. But aside from that, his magic was bursting with power.

Teferi strained to summon all the mana he could. His body was outlined in a blue aura. He released the spell, stopping time in its tracks.

Of course, his magic wasn’t able to stop Bolas. He remained unfrozen. The Dragon left the Weatherlight and confronted Teferi.

“You’ve got your spark back, Teferi.” Bolas smiled, “ I thought it was lost.”

“You won’t find the power you need in me, Bolas. I’m barely able to keep your armies frozen.”

“Good.” Bolas’s eyes widened. Teferi felt a sudden attack on his mind. The pain in his temples didn’t end the spell, however.

Teferi unfroze the Gatewatch, Karn and Jaya, “Get to the Weatherlight! Tolaria’s lost! Go!”

Bolas abandoned his assault on the chronomancer’s mind and unleashed a torrent of draconic fire.

Teferi shielded himself and unfroze time. His allies had gotten onto the Weatherlight. He used flight magic to propel himself onto the ship’s deck, in front of the pilot’s deck.

“Jhoira! Go!” Teferi shouted.

Jhoira fiddled with a few knobs and sent them flying off into the distance, leaving behind the ruins of Tolaria West.

_________________________________

“Should we go after them?” Tezzeret asked.

“No.” Bolas grinned, “We won’t catch the Weatherlight. But Tolaria is gone.”

“What of Beleren and Vess?”

“If they killed Belzenlok, Vess will have no reason to serve me. Hell, she could actually stand a chance of defeating me. Except for a little probing I did in Beleren’s head. Either she has calmed down or that Raven Man of hers has talked her out of trying to kill me. Her arrogance won’t encourage her to do something stupid. I’ll pick them up.” Bolas flew into the air, speeding into the distance.


	8. Reprisal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Weatherlight Crew and the Gatewatch experience the aftermath of Tolaria’s defeat and prepare to defend new fronts.

The dragon landed in Madara with a mighty roar. Jace and Liliana just stared.

“I’m here to bring you back to the armada.”

“What was with you ditching us?!” Liliana yelled.

“I’m happy to see you lived, Vess. I wanted to make sure the victory didn’t cause you to do something you would regret.”

“That’s no excuse for just flying away with the entire camp.” Jace said.

Had you tried to attack me, an enchantment would’ve activated that would render your darling Jace a mindless carcass. And I doubt you would want that.

Liliana sighed, “Whatever. Where’d you guys go?”

“Tolaria. It’s in ruins. Unfortunately, a select few planeswalkers jettisoned away on an airship.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Jace asked, “If Tolaria’s gone, they have no home base.”

“You’re quite correct, Beleren. Now that they’re on the run, resources will be much scarcer.”  
________________________

Teferi cursed, “Damnit!” How could he let Tolaria fall?

Gideon sat down next to him, “Sounds like there’s something on your mind.”

“I can’t believe I let that happen. So many of my students and scholars are dead.” Teferi said, “I even got my spark back and I couldn’t save anyone but myself.”

“Listen, Teferi, I get it. Jace and Liliana aren’t the only friends I’ve lost. When I was young, my arrogance got all of my friends killed. What happened happened. The only thing you can do is move on and try to redeem yourself.”

“I can’t keep a track record like this. Zhalfir was bad enough.”

“Zhalfir?”

“It’s...something I did. A mistake.”  
.  
“Okay...just don’t beat yourself up too much. You’ll get your chance to avenge them.”

“Do you have any idea of what to do next?” Teferi asked.

“The metal guy actually wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Karn. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

Teferi stood and composed himself. He met with Karn, Jaya, Jhoira and the Gatewatch on the bridge.

“What’s our next move, Karn?” Jhoira asked.

“I have calculated the likelihood of planeswalker sparks appearing based off the information available to us. It is critical that we defend Llanowar and Benalia, simply as bastions of resistance and areas where sparks could appear.” Karn said, “I say we split into two groups.”

“I will go to Llanowar.” Nissa spoke up, “If I know elves, the only things they don’t hate are nature and other elves.”

“I’ll go with Nissa!” Chandra jumped up.

“What? Why?” Gideon asked, “You’re trying to protect a forest, not burn it down.”

“They’ll be fine.” Chandra said with undeserved confidence.

“I’d better go with you just to be sure.” Gideon frowned.

“No. Gideon, we need you in Benalia.” Karn protested, “Jaya will go with them. The rest of us will go to Benalia. The Llanowar elves aren’t fans of outsiders, so we can only send a few delegates.”

“How long do we have?” Jhoira asked.

“None of Bolas’s forces can go as fast as the Weatherlight. We’ll have some extra time. I’d say a few days.” The golem responded.

“We’ll drop off the trio at Llanowar and we can stay with my daughter Niambi,” Teferi said, “She’ll get us a meeting with the higher ups.”  
_____________________________________

Nissa snapped out of her meditation, due to a knock at her door.

“Nissa, it’s Chandra.”

“Come in.” Nissa said as she hastily stood and cleaned herself off.

The pyromancer entered the room. She looked nervous.

“Hey, so, um...I was wondering if you could help me out with something.”

“What is it?”

“I need to handle my magic with a bit more care in order for Jaya to train me. I was wondering if maybe you’d like to teach me how.” Chandra said, “Because, obviously when I think of control, I think of you and Jace, but Jace isn’t here, so—“

“Say no more.” Nissa cut her off, “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks a lot, Nissa.”

“No problem. Whenever you need something, just let me know. That’s what friends are for.”

“Well, I think the two of us are a little more than just friends.” Chandra chuckled.

Nissa’s brow furrowed, “What do mean?”

“Well we’re, like, closer…” Chandra’s voice grew softer.

“I know what you mean.” Nissa felt a strange surge of impulse, “I care for you more than anyone else, Chandra.”

“Y-Yeah. Same.” Chandra said.

“Then we’re in agreement.” Nissa smiled at her. They were very close to each other. Silence plagued the room. Something stirred in Nissa. She drew closer to the pyromancer and pressed her lips against Chandra’s.

Chandra stumbled back and away from Nissa, “Woah! What was that?”

“Wait, I thought—” Nissa stuttered.

“Nissa, you know I’d do anything for you, but I don’t feel that way about you.” Chandra said, “Sorry for giving you the wrong idea.”

Embarrassed, the redhead swiftly left the room.

Nissa sat in a pool of her own self loathing, wondering what she had just done.  
____________________________________

Gideon saw Chandra running down the hall, “Hey Chandra, we’re gonna…” he trailed off as she ran out of sight, “Be in Llanowar soon. Huh. Weird.”

Gideon continued down the hall to Nissa’s room. He knocked, “Nissa, it’s Gideon. We’re gonna be in Llanowar soon, so get ready. We’re dropping you three in a few minutes.”

He got no response.

“Uh...okay, just don’t be late.” Gideon went straight to the bridge where Jhoira and Teferi were fiddling with some of the controls.

“Teferi, what does the barometer look like?”

“We’re fine.” Teferi said.

“Are you sure? You’ve never driven an airship before. How do you know what fine is?”

“You told me what fine is. We’re fine.” Teferi exclaimed, 

“Tiana, are we okay?”

“We’re good, Jhoira!” An angel in the back of the room gave a thumbs up. She looked like a butch, more messy and less fiery version of Chandra.

“Oh. Hello Gideon.” Teferi said.

“Hey. You guys have lived for thousands of years. Can you help me with something?”

“I can’t imagine what it might be that you need help with.” Jhoira snickered as she turned away from the controls.

“Well, Chandra and Nissa are really close. Like sister close. And they’ve both been acting strangely.”

“Strangely how?” Teferi asked.

“Well, Chandra was running down the hall and didn’t even listen when I told her we were dropping them off. And Nissa didn’t even answer the door.” Gideon said.

“Again. Strangely how?” Jhoira asked, “Chandra’s not the listening type. And Nissa is the shut in of the group.”

“Okay, there’s not much evidence, but I feel in my gut that something’s wrong between them.”

“What, are you an empath now?” Teferi joked.

“Hilarious. But I know when something could inhibit my allies’ ability to fight together.” Gideon sighed.

“Hey, you said they were close, right?” Teferi asked, “Could they possibly be...lovers close?”

Gideon was bewildered by the idea, “Um...I mean it’s possible, but I’d never see that coming.”

“Then they probably just had a fight or something.” Jhoira said, “Assuming there is something wrong. It’ll work itself out.”

“I’m just worried. That kind of relationship on the team is dangerous. Just look at Jace and Liliana.”  
____________________________________

Tezzeret watched as the Weatherlight, over head, dropped their fighters into Llanowar.

“Who do you think sent?” Tezzeret asked.

“No doubt that tree loving elf girl.” Baltrice said.

“Nissa?”

“I’m bad with names Tezz, quit givin’ me shit.” The pyromancer gave Tezzeret a look, “What’s our plan.”

“The elves win their battles because they know the terrain and can sneak among the trees, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll take out their advantage. We can stuff the Eternals in tanks and have them bulldoze the forest with fire and...well, tanks.”

“What about their magic, though?”

“We’ll take care of the planeswalkers. The Eternals can do the burning.”

“Damn!” Baltrice hissed, “I wanted to get in on that.”  
__________________________________________

Teferi and the rest of his allies landed in a village outside of the Benalish capital.

Out of a large hut with a thatch roof, a woman in robes walked with a befuddled look on her face. She had Teferi’s complexion. But she looked older.

“Dad?” The woman asked, “You look...younger.”

“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Niambi.” Teferi embraced his daughter.

“Jhoira.” Niambi nodded in the captain’s direction, “Who are all these people?”

“Oh, these are other planeswalkers who’ve come to help us.”

“Wait. Is that Karn?” Niambi pointed to the silver golem, “My dad talks endlessly about you. Hi, I’m Niambi.” She stuck out her hand.

Karn shook it, “Nice to meet you.”

“And that’s Gideon, Ajani, Tamiyo, Narset, Sarkhan and Garruk.” Teferi said.

“So, what are you guys doing here?” Niambi asked.

“We need to help defend Benalia.” Teferi’s voice turned grim, “Against the forces of Nicol Bolas.”

Niambi laughed, “That’s funny, dad. Nicol Bolas was the planeswalker dragon you told me about to scare me into eating my vegetables.”

“Bolas is real. And he’s much worse than what I told you about. He seeks to destroy our world. Tolaria has already fallen.”

“Wait, what? Tolaria? That’s impossible.”

“Trust me,” Karn said, “Bolas is not a trivial threat in any sense of the words.”

“His soldiers are emotionless like the undead, but they fight with the prowess of master warriors and cast spells like our greatest wizards.” Jhoira said.

“What do you need?” Niambi asked.

“A place to stay and a meeting with the bureaucrats.”


	9. Siege on Benalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace and Liliana begin their attack on the knight army of Benalia.

Liliana’s shade returned in a matter of hours.

“Daughter of Chronomancer.” It rasped, “All but Pyromancers and elf.”

Jace had a dubious look on his face, “All but three? This is gonna be tough.”

“Not to worry, darling. Remember, my pacts are gone. I can wipe out an army of planeswalkers in an instant.” Liliana smiled sardonically.

“Don’t get overconfident. The capital only has one way in and one way out. A bridge that goes over a massive river.” Jace drew a diagram in the dirt beneath him, “They have the Weatherlight, so air power’s not an option. We can send a main force of lower tier zombies through the bridge and have a cloaked force of Eternals get across the river. We distract them with the bigger force and slip into the city with the Eternals.”

“How would we get inside?” Liliana asked, “If the bridge is blocked up, there are no ways in.”

“We’ll go around to the back of the city. I can use some of the materials in our airship to build a teleportal. Or you can just blast down the wall. We’ll go straight through their walls.” Jace said, “After that, the Eternals will set to work and you’ll raise those they kill. The city will be ours.”

“Simple, yet smart. You make a better tactician than Gideon.” Liliana said.

“Gideon is delusional if he considers himself a tactician. The only thing he’s good at is being a shield.”

“Ooh, nice.” Liliana jokingly winced.

“You start raising the dead. I’ll build that teleportal.”  
__________________________________________

Nissa, Chandra and Jaya were stopped as soon as they reached the border of an elven settlement and were brought to their leader.

He was an older elf, with a wrinkled face and silver hair. He croaked as he spoke, “My name is Alaion Vaynore. What is your purpose in Llanowar?”

Nissa stepped forward, “We are delegates from Tolaria, which has fallen to the hands of the elder dragon Nicol Bolas. He plans to burn down your forest and slaughter your citizens.”

One elf stepped forward, “Why should believe you and your...ugh, human companions?”

“Now, Marwyn.” Vaynore warned.

“These humans are friends of mine and I would appreciate it if you didn’t refer to them with such disgust. This is the legendary planeswalker Jaya Ballard. She is an adept pyromancer and will serve you well.” Nissa said, “And the threat of Nicol Bolas and his Eternal army is very real. Country after country falls to his might and yours will be next if you don’t allow us to help.”

Marwyn and Vaynore looked at each other.

“We can’t take the chance,” Vaynore said.

“Very well.” Marwyn turned to the three planeswalkers, “Welcome, sister. What is your name?”

“I am Nissa Revane.”

“Welcome, Nissa. Llanowar is home to all of elvenkind. Come, tell us how we can assist you in fighting these Eternals.”

Marwyn and Nissa strode off, leaving only Jaya and Chandra.

“Are elves always like this?” The younger pyromancer asked.

“Always.” Jaya replied.

“Jaya.” Vaynore called, “Come with me. The elders and I would like to hear of your travels. We always need new literature.”

The old elf grabbed Jaya’s hand and led her away.

Chandra looked around awkwardly at the scrutinizing stares of the surrounding elves.

“Don’t mind me, friends. Just gonna stand here.”  
___________________________

Gideon was staring out the window of Niambi’s hut. Teferi, Karn and Jhoira had gone to Benalia to talk with the aristocrats of the city.

Gideon thought he saw something across the grass of the open plains.

“Are those…” Gideon looked closer. It was an army of undead soldiers. Not Eternals, but zombies nonetheless.

“What is it?” Ajani asked.

“There’s an army of zombies on the horizon. We need to warn Teferi.” Gideon strapped his armor on and ran out of the hut. He sprinted across the bridge into Benalia and barged through the town.

Gideon burst into the city hall.

“Gideon, what are you doing here?” Jhoira asked.

“An army.” Gideon was out of breath, panting, “An army of zombies is marching towards us.”

Teferi turned to the aristocrats, “We have no time for negotiations. Your armies need to be ready.”

One of the aristocrats nodded, “Call the knights. We will hold them at the bridge.”

Later that day, after they had been gathered, Gideon stood before the gathered knights of Benalia. Their numbers were vast.

But none of them looked ready to fight. Dread and tiredness plagued their faces. The sun had set and they wanted to sleep.

“What’s wrong with them?” Teferi whispered.

“They don’t wanna be here. Don’t worry, though. I’ll work my magic.” Gideon said. He dragged a small wooden box to where he was standing and got on top of it, “Knights of Benalia! There is an undead army headed our way! It’s your duty to protect the citizens of this city and thus, you must fight. We are the only thing that stands between the destructive claw of Nicol Bolas and Benalia’s devastation. I know it may seem daunting, but we are strong. We cannot simply stand by as the dragon wreaks havoc across Dominaria! Are you not the great defenders of this land?”

The knights murmured and nodded in a agreement.

“This is your day! Benalia will not fall!”

Some of the knights cheered.

“We will send Bolas back to his hole with his tail between his legs!”

More of the knights joined in.

“Are you ready to fight?”

The knights let out a resounding cheer of affirmation.

“We will be victorious!”

The knights roared in newly inspired zeal. Teferi stood, astonished at how quickly Gideon had riled them up.  
________________________________

Jace stared down the bridge.

The knights of Benalia, headed by Gideon Jura, were clogging the entrance.

“Kill them all.” Jace said.

Liliana’s undead units stormed the bridge. Jace charged with them.

The knights all parted, to reveal a giant metal cylinder, lined in spikes. The cylinder was rolled down a track.

Jace stopped, “Get back!” He ran in the opposite direction as the cylinder pinned several zombies to it. It rolled faster than Jace could run and it took a burst of telekinesis to throw himself beyond the track’s range.

Much of Liliana’s force had been impaled on the cylinder.

A the knights began pulling the cylinder back with ropes. Jace found a small gap through which to climb. He narrowly avoided several spikes and leapt onto the other side. He cut the ropes that were attached to it and commanded the soldiers to get themselves over.

Jace unleashed a blast of kinetic force, knocking their formations up. He summoned an illusory sword and shield and cut through one of the knights. Jace caught sight of the blood as a twinge of horror and guilt rose up in him. He quickly suppressed it. He had already taken many lives in the past.

Jace roared a menacing battle cry to reignite his bloodlust.

One of the knights swung at his head. Jace ducked under and swept his leg under the knight’s ankles. The blade of his sword pierced the knight’s throat.

Quickly he stood up and flung two knights into the ceiling with telekinesis. Jace bashed in the jaw of another knight with his shield and mind wiped her, dispelling his illusory sword.

Liliana’s zombies were doing a sufficient job of matching the knights, but they still had a hard time actually killing anyone.

Jace broke through to outside of the bridge. There, both Gideon and Tamiyo faced him.

“You.” Jace sneered.

“What are you doing, Jace?” Gideon asked with genuine concern.

“Doing what’s best for me.” Jace summoned an illusionary spear.

Gideon unfurled his sural weapon and lowered into a fighting stance. Jace could feel the telepathic prickles of Tamiyo trying to burrow into his mind.

Thanks to Bolas’s tutelage, his powers stopped relying on natural talent, but instead hard earned skill.

His mental defenses were a thousand times stronger than the moonfolk’s and she knew that.

Jace’s thoughts seeped into her mind like poison ichor, “Don’t even try. I can destroy your mind in an instant.” As he spoke in her mind, Tamiyo’s defenses were obliterated. Shattered like brittle glass.

Gideon attacked. Jace didn’t move as his sural slashed through nothing.

“I know this is an old trick,” Jace’s voice came from all around them, as they could see Jace’s image all over the place, “But it seems to work every time. I’d love to explore new ways of deception, but how can I when you keep falling for the same illusions?”

“Stop this, Jace. You sound like Bolas.”

“And?” Jace said, “Bolas’s abilities and knowledge are far beyond what I could collect in a lifetime.”

“Knowledge isn’t worth your moral code.”

“Is it?” Jace laughed. Tamiyo screamed. Her eyes glowed blue. Then her face went slack as she turned to Gideon. Her arm shot out and fired a spell of ice that froze the combat mage’s feet to the ground.

Suddenly, Jace appeared in front of him. He quickly looked around and jumped back.

“This one seems to give you quite a bit of trouble, Gideon.” Teferi had arrived on the scene.

“Teferi, the Chronomancer. Hero of Dominaria, some are calling you. I can think of a few wizards who would disagree with that sentiment.”

“Don’t.” Teferi growled.

Jace shrugged, “Fine. If you wanna take all the fun out of it.” Jace threw a torrent of blue mind wiping flames.

A blue field of energy shined as the flames made contact, failing to reach the time mage. Teferi cast a binding spell that was quickly countered.

“Gideon, help me out.” Teferi said.

Both planeswalkers circled the mind mage. Jace unleashed a wave of force and split into twenty copies of himself. 

Jace himself snuck up behind Gideon and shoved an illusory spear into a chink of his armor. The mage yelled in pain.

Gideon stumbled back, putting a magical shield up. Jace dispelled his defenses and set his copies upon him.

The telepath leapt over a spell from Teferi he could feel coming. Jace fired a non stop barrage of blue magic, which was blocked by a blue field of magic.

Teferi summoned two avatars and sent them after Jace. He froze both of them in ice, but Teferi accelerated the ice’s time, causing it to instantly melt.

Jace dispelled their essence into the aether. Teferi sped up his own time and appeared behind Jace in an instant. He cast another binding spell at Jace point blank. The telepath fell to the ground, unable to move. Jace mentally accelerated his senses and countered the enchantment.

He saw Teferi slow time and prepare a spell.

Jace became incorporeal as a ray of blinding light blasted through his form. He attached a sigil to Teferi’s temple and sent the feeling of a crippling migraine through the chronomancer’s head.

Teferi strained to keep consciousness and summoned a counterspell. Jace pulled three sphinxes through the aether and set them on Teferi. The time mage reverted them to zygotes.

Jace summoned an illusionary serpent that passed through Teferi. He was thrown back by the blow.

Teferi destroyed the illusion and activated a control spell, “Surrender yourself!”

Jace resisted the magic and responded with his own, stronger control magic, “Stand straight!”

Teferi’s arms and legs locked in an attention position. He strained, “How…”

“I was trained by the absolute best.” Jace tightened his grip on Teferi’s mind.

Pain blossomed in Teferi’s mind and disillusion was approaching.

Jace was hit in the side by Gideon slamming into him.

He stood, furious, “I will kill you, Jura!”  
______________________________

Chandra wandered about the city in the trees, looking for either of her allies who had been whisked away by the native elves.

She was bored more than anything. But the glares and looks of disgust still hurt. Chandra had severely underestimated the xenophobia of these elves.

Chandra looked inside the bajillionth hole in a tree. She saw Nissa among a bunch of other elves.

Finally! She was about to step inside, but hesitated. She was still weirded out by what had happened earlier that day. If only she knew what was going through Nissa’s head.

Jace did always tell her to look before she leapt, but she never had been confronted by a large gap or high place she had to leap through.

He probably meant she should watch what’s going on around her. Chandra sat down on the edge of the hole in the tree and listened in.

She felt wrong doing it, but she couldn’t help herself.

“...some interesting company you keep, Nissa.” It was that lady from earlier. Marwyn, right? “You must be far from home to keep the likes of humans at your side.”

“I am pretty far from my home.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Of course I do. But I have an oath to fulfill.”

“Where do you come from, Nissa?”

“It’s far from Llanowar. It’s a place full of lush and expansive forests. The sky is full of floating land where you can see the landscape for miles around. It’s beautiful.” Nissa went off, describing Bala Ged on Zendikar.

“It sounds nice. What caused you to leave?” Marwyn asked.

“Something threatened to destroy it and all my people.”

“Was it Bolas?”

“No. It was something else. It had been plaguing my world for years.”

“Your...world?”

“I mean...world as in, like, everything I knew.”

“Okay…”

“Anyways, with the help of Chandra, I was able to defeat the threat and save my home.”

“Alright, that make sense. I see why you keep her around now. She helped save your home. She must be pretty powerful.”

Chandra smiled at the compliment.

“But also easy to manipulate. So you keep her around, kind of like a pet.”

Chandra’s smile dropped.

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t put it exactly that way.”

“Nissa, you’re an elf.”

“Yes.”

“And she’s a human.”

“Also yes.”

“How else could it be?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“Make sense yet? She’s yours to use as you please. And it’s not like she would know. She’s a stupid human.

Chandra didn’t need to hear the rest. Embers flaked off her hair as she stormed away, furious. She WAS NOT easy to manipulate. And Nissa would never do something like that.

But Nissa had always seemed more open around people like her. Maybe she was just keeping Chandra around like a guard dog.

Chandra raged at the confusion as her hair burst into flames.


	10. Barely Holding On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Benalian Siege takes a turn south for Jace and Liliana. And Chandra acts out in confusion.
> 
> I'm sorry I wasn't able to upload last week. I got a concussion during a martial arts tournament and was out of commission for a week and a half. But I saw how WotC tried to ruthlessly tear Jace and Liliana apart permanently in one of the most recent Dominaria stories, so I'm doing a double upload this week.

Liliana and her Eternals were at the back of the wall by the time Jace broke through the ranks defending the bridge.

She created a thin, pressurized beam of necromantic energy. She cut through the wall, selecting out a large portion. She pushed the section, causing it to fall on the buildings behind it.

The Eternals ran into the city and began their work. They stabbed and killed everything in sight. People screamed and ran. They brought back vivid memories of that day on Amonkhet when all the people were slaughtered as a test drive for Bolas’s soldiers.

The Chain Veil hissed at her side.

“Quiet you.” Liliana said.

The veil didn’t silence. It grasped at her.

“He comes.” The voices of the Onnake groaned in her head. This was the first time it had done that in a while.

Liliana looked up.

Garruk god damned Wildspeaker was tossing her Eternals around like garbage.

She had almost forgotten about him.

“Vess! I’ve found you!” Garruk pointed at her from across the battlefield.

The hunter leapt through the air with amazing strength. He landed in front of Liliana and let his axe fall on her. Liliana blasted Garruk, sending him back before the weapon could touch her.

Garruk raged and charged at Liliana. The necromancer summoned an undead giant to face the hulking beastmaster. Garruk cut through it with ease and hit Liliana with the blunt end of his axe, making a large wound in her head.

Liliana stood, carefully, and swarmed him with Eternals. The beast mage threw them off and summoned a horde of beast to go after her. Liliana sent necrotic magic flying at them, but the spells hit them and simply dissolved.

They were hexproof.

Liliana dug her fingers into the ground. Black magic radiated as poisoned and twisted vines burst through the earth. They wrapped around the beasts like rope and tied them down.

Garruk ripped through the vines and pinned Liliana down.

“Fix this curse, Vess. Or I’ll kill both you and your new plaything.”

Liliana grabbed Garruk’s arms, “Go to hell, mindless brute.” Garruk screamed as Liliana’s death magic caused incredible pain in his muscles. He let go of her and she took advantage of it.

Liliana ran from him, but Garruk gave chase. If he ever got close enough again, he wouldn’t let go.

A wall of Eternals blocked his path, but none of them could keep the beast of a man down.

Liliana surfed through the streets on a mass of spirits, ghosts, bones and dead matter.

The beast mage leapt onto the side of a building and traversed the distance with incredibly impressive jumps.

Liliana turned around and fired a several blasts of necromantic magic.

Before she knew, they had reach the site of Jace’s front. He was expertly keeping both Teferi and Gideon at bay. But knowing him, he would tire eventually.

Liliana took her mass of dead things and slammed it into Gideon like a battering ram.

“Lili! What happened. Why are you here?” Jace asked.

“A certain beastmage is on the hunt.” Liliana smiled.

“What do you say we clean up the garbage here?”

Liliana smiled and kissed him, “Let’s do it together this time.”  
______________________________

Chandra walked in on a meeting between the elders of the village and Jaya, dangerously furious.

“Can you excuse me?” Jaya said, “Chandra, what’s the matter with you? You’ll burn the village down.”

“I’d be okay with that.” Chandra growled.

“Tell me what happened.”

“It’s these damned elves! The lot of them are stuck up, arrogant little...rraagh! Even Nissa! I thought she was my friend, but no! She only treats elves like people. To her I’m just a pet!”

“I’m certain she didn’t say that.” Jaya said.

“Well maybe she didn’t outright say it, but she agreed with Marwyn when she said it!”

“Listen, just go talk to her. I’m sure she’ll clear everything up. I really need to get the elders on my side or else Bolas will—not can, will destroy them.”

“I don’t feel like talking to her right now.”

“Then you’ll feel terrible until you do feel like talking to her. Just do it.”

“Fine!” Chandra snapped quietly.

She stormed away, smoldering footsteps left in her wake. With another scream of frustration, her hair blew up in a billowing fire, just keeping from igniting the forest.

“Hey!” Several elves exclaimed.

Chandra glared in their direction and moved her shoulders as if she were going to attack them.

The elves stumbled back.

“That’s what I thought.”  
______________________________

Garruk’s axe crashed into the rubble on the ground, barely missing Jace’s throat. 

Liliana had commanded the Eternals to hold off a surrounding and enclosed circle of knights that had begun advancing as she fought with Gideon.

Gideon lashed his sural at her, but she caught the weapon. She destroyed the whips with black magic, making it nothing more than a fancy gauntlet.

Gideon was already furious with Liliana. First she betrayed them. Then she turned Jace against them. And now his weapon was in shambles.

“Are you gonna cry over a few ribbons, beefside?”

She was right. He had no time to be upset over a weapon. Gideon and Liliana each grabbed a knight’s sword from the ground.

“You know swordplay?”

“Two hundred years is a long time, Gideon.”

“Rragh!” Gideon cried as his blade swung down on Liliana. She parried the strike and lit her blade in death magic. In turn, Gideon imbued his own weapon with battle magic.

He held the sword to the sky as a flash of white permeated the battlefield. Liliana yelled as her eyes were burned and blinded.

She healed them and growled in anger. Liliana slashed at the air with her blade, creating a projectile of dark magic with every stroke.

Gideon created a shield of invulnerability and ran at her head on, shrugging off the blows of magic.

The necromancer let loose a ghastly hand of blackened gas. The spell passed through Gideon and his shield, ripping at his soul.

The combat mage fell to the ground as he started coughing up blood.

Despite the incredible pain, Gideon stood again, determined to defeat Liliana.

Garruk rammed his shoulder into Liliana’s side. She landed on the ground a few yards away.

She stood and discarded the sword as she placed the Chain Veil on her face.

“Come and get me, planeswalker hunter.” Liliana’s taunted.

Jace narrowly dodged another one of Teferi’s spells.

With a slide, Jace sent an illusionary eel into Teferi’s mind, taking some memories with it.

Jace summoned a pair of wings and flew above Teferi’s next volley.

The mind mage split off copies of himself to attack Teferi.

Teferi opened several portals in time. Past fissions and shadows of himself stepped through, numbering equal to Jace’s copies.

Soon, the field was full of copies of both planeswalkers fighting each other.

The real Jace engaged in a mental battle with Teferi. With a single thought, Jace crumbled Teferi’s main defenses to dust. 

The chronomancer slowed time, giving himself the ability to avoid Jace’s mental attacks and dissipate his clones.

Teferi’s time shadows swarmed Jace, but with a blast of magic, he created a cyclone to the Æther. The cyclone sucked up all the shadows and sent them to the void.

Jace summoned an illusory sword and swung at Teferi. The strike was blocked by his staff.

Teferi forced the mind mage away before launching a spell that would age Jace considerably.

Jace responded with a spell that would obliterate the time mage’s mind. The beams clashed, sparking raw mana in the middle.

“Give up, Beleren! I’m centuries older than Liliana, even. You can’t beat me.”

“The future belongs to us, old man!” Jace intensified the strength of his spell.

A blast nullified both attacks.

Jace and Teferi exchanged lightning fast spells and counterspells.

Jace engulfed himself in a counterbalance sphere. He clapped his hands together, slowly spreading them apart as blue sigils frantically rushed between portals in the palms of his hands. He began chanting eldritch syllables.

Liliana stepped behind the boundaries of Jace’s defensive sphere.

I’ll be in here if you need me. This sphere will protect you from any magic attacks.

Focus on Gideon and Garruk for now. I can handle Teferi.

Alright, thank you. In that case, I should probably move around.

A torrent of arcane missiles fired at the soldier and hunter, while Liliana fired two necromantic beams at Teferi.

Garruk ran at Liliana, axe raised. Jace, with a massive wave of force, propelled the beast mage into a nearby building.

Gideon created a sphere of indestructibility around himself, the shield was quickly shattered and copied by Jace. The mind mage launched himself into Gideon, ramming him with his own sphere.

Jace wasn’t paying attention when Garruk swung the blunt end of his axe into him. He flew a few feet, before hitting the ground next to Liliana.

The necromancer raised several undead to occupy Teferi.

“Jace, are you okay?” Liliana knelt down at his side.

“Something is definitely broken.” Jace groaned.

“I’ll heal you up, but be more careful.”

“We should probably just stick by each other.” Jace said as a soft lavender hue of light shone from Liliana fingertips. He felt his bones reattach themselves as he stood.

“Good idea.” Liliana chucked a fit of black lightning over Jace’s shoulder. Garruk yelled as he was brought low by the spell.

“Thanks.”

Jace created another magic barrier around them.

“You know, I hear that magic greatly responds to stimuli of certain hormone glands, like oxytocin and dopamine.” Jace said as the other three planeswalkers circled them.

“I don’t know any of what you just said, dear.”

“Feelings of happiness could increase our proficiency, since there’s the lack of—“

Liliana grabbed Jace’s face and kissed him.

Jace’s shield exploded into a whirling sphere of wild and untamed magic.

“What kind of uneducated fool do you take me for, Beleren? I took an anatomy class, you know. Kinda comes with being a necromancer.”

“I…”

“No need to speak, darling.” Liliana pressed her lips against Jace’s again.

“Are they…” Teferi squinted inside of Jace’s sphere, “What the hell are they doing?”

Liliana fired another beam of energy, but much bigger and deadlier.

Teferi tried to shield himself, but it took great effort to keep the spell up.

Liliana raised every fallen knight on the battlefield, sending them after Gideon and Garruk.

Garruk ripped away Liliana’s dead and stared at Liliana with a scary intensity. The Chain Veil went wild.

Liliana broke away from Jace, “What the shit?”

The Chain Veil glowed a dark violet.

Garruk’s skin turned grey as his veins appeared a sickly purple under it. The beast roared monstrously.

“The Veil. It’s aiding him.” Liliana whispered.

“Either that or he can somehow draw on it.” Jace said.

Garruk leapt into the air and swung his axe into Jace’s shield. The blade was encased in green magic and pierced Jace’s barrier. His massive hand broke through as he tore the enchantment open, shattering the magic.

The mind mage blasted Garruk’s leg, tripping him as Liliana hit him with a barrage of necromancy.

Jace went to throw another spell, but he found his arms and legs unable to move.

“What the hell?” Jace turned his head. A giant silver golem, a woman with crimson hair, Ajani, Narset and Sarkhan had joined them. The new woman had her hand extended in his direction.

“The fuck?” Liliana exclaimed. Teferi had his staff pointed her direction.

They were caught.


	11. Llanowar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tezzeret and Baltrice unleash a torrent of fury on the Llanowar forest. Jace and Liliana are interrogated by their captors.
> 
> What's worse than ripping Liliana and Jace apart with no consolation for those of us who they teased for three years? Putting Jace with Vraska, a former archnemesis and making the Dominaria story all about Liliana with Sir Righteousness and his He-Manliness Gideon. Kill me.

Chandra heard footsteps behind her. One pair.

“What do you want?” Chandra asked.

“Chandra, it’s me.” Nissa’s voice said. She sounded stern and quite a bit irritated, “What is wrong with you? I heard you’ve invaded Jaya’s meeting with the elders, terrorized the citizens and set several fires.”

“What about it?” Chandra scoffed.

“Can I not leave you alone for even an hour?” Nissa threw her hands up as she yelled, exasperated.

“Apparently not. Looks like you didn’t train your loyal dog as well as you thought.” Chandra’s voice dripped with ichor bitterness.

“Loyal dog?”

“That’s all you see me as, isn’t it? Some brute you drag around to burn things on demand.” Chandra exhaled flames from her nostrils as she spoke, “I heard your talk with that Marwyn person.”

“Chandra, of course I don’t see you like that! You’re my friend. I have to keep up relations with these people. If you don’t agree with everything they say, they would kick us out.” Nissa ‘s voice grew softer.

“Why should I believe you? You’ve always been happier around elves.” Chandra looked in Nissa’s direction.

Nissa paused, but then responded, “Well maybe it’s because you’re such an incompetent fool that you can’t even articulate how you feel!”

“That thing?” Chandra asked. She gave no regard to it.

“You’ve always needed to hang onto someone smarter than you! First it was Gideon and I know you had a thing for him! Sorry I had to make you throw my feeling back in my face like garbage.” Nissa seethed. She’d never been this pissed off at someone.

“Well it’s not like I know how this thing works!” Chandra shouted.

“Because you’re a child, Chandra!” Nissa’s words stung worse than anyone’s when she was angry, “Maybe Marwyn was right. Humans are nothing but deformed elves with ten extra pounds of stupidity in their brains.”

Chandra’s hair burst into flame, “You’ve become just like her.” Chandra’s face contorted in rage.

“What?”

“Look at yourself. You’ve become just like Liliana. Suddenly these elves we met today are your best friends.” Chandra stood from the branch where she sat and pointed at Nissa accusingly.

“I am nothing like that witch!” Nissa snapped.

“You lied like she lied. You were just pretending to be my friend so you could use me.” Chandra’s fire died down.

“I would never do that. Don’t you trust me anymore?” Nissa’s voice calmed with Chandra’s flames, “Like you said, we met these elves just today. Would you really trust their word over mine?”

The ground beneath the forest began to rumble.

“Do you smell that?” Nissa asked, “Smoke.”

“Don’t look at me! I didn’t do anything.”

“Not you.” Nissa placed her hand in the dirt and focused on connecting with the leylines, “There’s an army of tanks headed our way. They’re burning the forest down. It’s Bolas. We can talk about this later.”  
______________________________

The front line of Tezzeret’s tanks bulldozed through Llanowar with ease. The Eternals piloting them unleashed billowing fires that ravaged the plant life.

They’d been going for about an hour, unhindered.

Until a volley of boulders hit the first line.

Elementals came out of the ground like Liliana’s undead and began trashing the frontal assault. Tezzeret detached a section of metal off every tank and created an army of constructs to hold off the elemental’s assault.

“Baltrice, they’re out there. Go take care of them.”

The pyromancer nodded and flew on jets into the forest.

Another boulder hurtled right at Tezzeret. Without even moving, he put together a shield of metal shards that blocked the attack.

Nissa came into the clearing made by Tezzeret’s onslaught.

“Is it just you?” Tezzeret scoffed with arrogance.

“For right now, yes.” Nissa dug her fingers into the earth. Pillars, arches and other rock formations burst from the ground, disrupting Tezzeret’s ranks.

Tezzeret dismantled all of the damaged tanks into metal shards and had them snake through the air, creating a dome of rapid, razor sharp blades.

The artificer constructed a thopter out of the circling shards and sent it flying at Nissa. The machine hit the elf, opening a small gash in her head, and rejoined the swirling dome. Nissa flew back and hit the shard dome. She screamed in pain as touching it flayed the skin on her back.

Nissa used some minor Druidic healing to patch up her wound, but it still hurt like hell. She summoned several plant elementals, but Tezzeret quickly cut them to ribbons.

He rose two snake like rows of shards behind him and launched them like arrows at her. Nissa rose a wall of earth, nullifying the attack.

Tezzeret reformed his etherium arm into a shield and created a gauntlet on his flesh and bone arm. His gauntlet lit with an Æther blade.

Nissa drew a thin sword from her staff. The blade glowed with vibrant green light.

Tezzeret let loose another rain of shards. Nissa made a tent of stone and stabbed her blade in the ground. Vines burst from the ground and wrapped around a bunch of raised stone. She created two giant rock and plant elementals.

The elementals lobbed their stone arms at Tezzeret. He used shards to cut through their vine tendons and sent the rocks flying.

Nissa resolved to destroy the dome. She had the elementals bash upwards, destroying the circling blades.

The animist ran at Tezzeret. She swung with her blade, putting a gash in Tezzeret’s shoulder.

The Artificer stumbled back, anger plastered on his face.

He rushed at Nissa and blocked her counter attack. His Æther blade pierced her side.

Nissa cried in agony as the blade seared her flesh and her connection to mana. Tezzeret ripped out the blade and looked down on her, a menacing grin.

He didn’t notice the fireball hurtling towards him.

Fire blasted across the artificer’s shield, forcing him back.

“I’ll turn you to ash, mother fucker!” Chandra shouted.  
______________________________

“Jace. Jace!” A voice permeated Jace’s sleep. He startled awake.

Jace blinked the blurriness out of his eyes. He was chained to a chair, bound by a magic seal. Liliana was next to him, in the same predicament.

“Jace, wake up.” Liliana said.

“I am awake. Where are we?”

“I think it’s an airship.” Liliana stomped the ground, “Can you get us out of here?”

“If I could, you’d be out. But they dampened my magic.”

“Same with me.”

“Lili?” Jace asked, “Where’s the Chain Veil?”

“What?” Liliana looked down at her skirts. The Chain Veil was indeed missing, “Those fools!”

“Hang on a sec. I can freeze the chains, but it’ll take awhile with this seal.” Jace exhaled and focused on cooling the moisture around his bonds.

“Well, go as fast as you can. The longer the Chain Veil is not in my possession, the more likely it latched onto someone new.”

The door of their prison opened and Gideon walked inside. He sat on the ground, gnawing on some type of jerky.

“What are you doing in here?” Jace asked through gritted teeth.

“Just standing guard. And I wanna catch up with you two.” Gideon had a determined look in his eye.

“You won’t get anything out of us, beefside.” Liliana said.

“Jace, where’d you go after Amonkhet?”

Jace remained silent.

“I just want to know what happened to you. A few months ago, you were fighting Bolas and now you’re serving him.”

“What? I never fought against Bolas.”

“Yes you did.”

“He’s spouting whatever he can to get you to doubt me.” Liliana said, with confidence, “He’s already grasping at air.”

“It’s true. You helped us fight the Eldrazi, helped us overthrow Tezzeret and helped us fight against Bolas.” Gideon said, continuing his strangely nonchalant attitude.

“Just ignore him.” Liliana smiled.

“The real Jace would look for proof of either. Go ahead and take a look if your memories have been messed with.” Gideon smiled, “I dare you.”

Jace narrowed his eyes. He was skeptical, but took a look anyways. His eyes glowed.

“What did Bolas do to him?” Gideon asked.

“Kill yourself.”

“You treat him like a dog. He shouldn’t be with you. He should be with people who respect him. Chandra, Nissa and I are those people.”

“I know exactly how much respect Jace deserves. I treat him well. And I will never lower him to your level.”

“You’re a worse person that Bolas.” Gideon growled.

Jace’s eyes stop glowing, “Lili…”

“What is it?”

“Why is there a wall?”  
______________________________

Elven warriors rushed at Tezzeret’s forces from the forest. They broke through the tanks and fought with the Eternals.

The Gatewatch’s pyromancer, Chandra Nalaar, faced him now while Nissa recovered.

Tezzeret fired a volley of shards in her direction. She dodged the attack and let loose another pair of fireblasts. Both were blocked by metal shields.

Tezzeret gathered a bunch of shards and assembled them in a vaguely barrel like form made up of several tubes, with a handle on the top, “This was a weapon design I picked up and modified from Jace’s adventures on Ixalan.”

Blue light gathered in the holes on the end of the weapon. The tubes began rotating and firing projectiles faster than anyone could cast spells.

Chandra flew into the air, propelled by flaming jets on the end of her fists. Tezzeret aimed up with his weapon. Chandra tried to block the projectiles, but they exploded the moment they made contact with her.

The pyromancer fell through the air, landing next to her elven friend. Slowly, she stood. Tezzeret assembled several thopters and sent them flying at her. While she tried to take them out, Tezzeret assembled three pylons and three drones

Tezzeret activated the drones. Blue energy held the pyromancer down in a binding spell.

Then, he triggered the pylons. Each one hit Chandra with a ray of blue magic. It wasn’t long before she was frozen in ice.

Chandra exploded into a blast of white hot fire.

The ice was sublimed into gas and the pylons were destroyed. She unleashed a stream of flames at Tezzeret.

Tezzeret created a barrier out of shards as the flames collided. Much to Tezzeret’s surprise, the flames melted the shield and burst through. Tezzeret shouted in pain as the flames charred his skin.

“You will die by my hand, girl!” Tezzeret growled. He assembled an armada of thopters and sent the swarm after Chandra.

Chandra destroyed all of the thopters in one blow.

The artificer raged. He summoned four long streams of shards. Chandra launched another barrage. Tezzeret countered each blow and sent his shards at her. They combined to create several bands, imbued with mana.

Chandra tried to blast out, but one of the bands acted like a dampener for her magic. The other bands sapped her vitality until she was forced to her knees.

Tezzeret reshaped his etherium arm into an augmented hilt. An Æther blade extended from it.

Before he could touch her, Baltrice landed on top of him.

“What the- Baltrice, get off!” He pushed her off of him and realized she was unconscious.

“She won’t be waking up for a while.” An old woman wearing crimson robes walked into the clearing, illuminated by the flickering orange light of fires in the night sky.

“Who might you be?” Tezzeret’s sword was reshaped into a hand cannon. He pointed the weapon at the woman.

“I’m Jaya Ballard. You mighta heard of me.” The woman’s hands ignited in flames.

“Another Fire mage?” Tezzeret frowned. He fired his hand cannon. Jaya was surprisingly agile for her age. She dodged the blast and set off a bombardment of smaller fire blasts.

Tezzeret's Shield took significant effort to create, as he was running low on both energy and mana. He was exhausted.

The fire swerved around his shield, so before it made contact, Tezzeret launched the shards at the pyromancer.

Tezzeret winced at the burns, but he was satisfied when the shards made contact. Jaya cried out in pain as Tezzeret’s attack pierced her in several places. Blood seeped from the stab wounds.

The pyromancer unleashed more flaming attacks than Tezzeret could block. So, he assembled a contraption in his hand and activated it. A fog spewed out from the device, cooling the air around him. The fire magic dissipated, as there was no longer enough heat to fuel it.

Tezzeret reassembled the parts into a similar form and tossed in Jaya direction. With a flash of light, the ground beneath her was frozen solid. Her lower legs were included in that. Tezzeret assembled another hand cannon.

“Lights out, pyromancer.”


	12. Ancient Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old and forgotten forces rise once again within Liliana and for Bolas's benefit.

Teferi walked in on a completely silent, yet tense room. The Weatherlight’s two captives had stressed looks on their faces. And Gideon had a smile plastered to his face.

“Teferi, do me a favor and clear out any mental blockades in Jace’s head, will you?”

“Gideon if I do that, he’ll tear my mind apart. I can only it if he swears he won’t hurt me.” Teferi explained.

Jace sighed, “Just do it. I want to know what was hidden.”

“It’s Bolas’s security measure, Jace.” Liliana said, “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Jace looked at Teferi, “Just do it. I can still defend myself if it’s not there.”

Teferi delved into Jace’s mind. A sealed wall of black towered over him. It was meant to be impenetrable. Teferi cleared the wall away with much effort, but got a crack in it. After that, it crumbled.

A wave of energy shoved Teferi out of his mind. Jace’s eyes burst with mana.

“No!” Liliana exclaimed, “You idiots!”

The blue light calmed and disappeared from Jace’s eyes.

“Liliana.” Jace said.

Liliana let out a shaky breath. She didn’t respond.

“Why?” Jace’s voice broke.

Liliana stayed silent.

“Gideon.” the mind mage said, “Untie me.”

Gideon smiled, “You’re back, Huh?” He untied Jace.

Liliana looked up at Jace with pleading eyes, “Please, Jace. I thought you would understand…”

Jace glared back, pain and rage in his eyes, “You lied to me. You used me. You...you made me a servant of Bolas.”

“Jace, I needed to protect—” Jace slapped Liliana across the face.

“Shut up.” Jace growled. His words were a toxin worse than any poison. A dagger in Liliana’s heart.

Light shone around him as he began planeswalking. Soon, he was gone.

She lost him. Again. Liliana couldn’t take it anymore. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

“No!” She cried, “Why?! I just wanted to protect him, you bastards! We were gonna be together! I was going to be happy!”

“It’s because all you do is lie, cheat and manipulate.” Gideon said. He was holding his victory over her.

“No. It’s not that. It’s never that. It’s...it’s...it’s you.” Liliana glared at Gideon with fire in her eyes, “It’s always you! You dragged him to Zendikar when I tried to get him back! You put his life at risk on Amonkhet! And now you’ve done this. I will kill you, Jura! If it’s the last goddamned thing I do!”

Liliana’s rage erupted into necrotic energy.

“He needs me whether he likes it or not. And you’re the one solely responsible for his misguidance!”

Liliana lurched in her chair. Her head jerked from side to side as red light took over her eyes.

“What’s happening?” Gideon stepped away.

Liliana’s screams turned to a deep, masculine voice, “Give in, Vess! You will do a great honor in serving the greatest necromancer who ever liv-”

“No!” Liliana shouted, “Who...are...you!?”

Liliana screamed. The light dissipated from her eyes as she slumped over.

Then her eyes snapped open.

They were crimson like blood. She cackled.

“Liliana, what the hell is wrong with you?” Gideon asked.

“This body no longer belongs to Liliana Vess.” Her voice was a distorted combination of her own and a man’s, “My spirit did a good job of getting inside her head. And getting her to consume my spark? Icing on the cake.”

“Who are you?”

“I’ve been a companion of Liliana’s since she was but a girl. I am Lim-Dûl, the greatest necromancer to ever grace the multiverse.”

“How...how are you still alive?” Teferi asked.

Liliana chuckled, “You underestimate me, Teferi.”

Lim-Dûl snapped the chains binding Liliana’s body. With a radiated blast of dark magic, he simply walked out of the room.

“Somebody catch her!” Gideon shouted.

Lim-Dûl went unintercepted onto the deck.

Karn met him there, crouched in a fighting stance.

“You’re going nowhere, Vess.”

“I think you have the wrong person.” He smiled.

“Lim-Dûl.” Karn gasped.

Lim-Dûl blasted a barrage of necromancy at the golem, which shoved him back. The necromancer stepped onto the railing of the Weatherlight and leapt off, falling towards the ground.

_____________________________________

Nissa awoke to a charred flatland, devoid of life.

“What...what happened?” The elf’s voice cracked as she observed the charred wasteland surrounding her.

Chandra was lying a few feet away from her and Jaya was covered in wounds.

The injury in her side had been cauterized, but she felt her connection to the leylines were significantly weaker.

Nissa stood, shakily, and propped herself up on her staff.

She could still see Tezzeret’s main force in the distance. She tried to catch up, but she found herself too slow.

She summoned a cat like elemental and mounted its back.

The elemental ran towards the wall of steel tanks in the distance.

Nissa drew her animist’s blade and blew through the ranks. A huge section of Llanowar was a cinder ruin. All the elves were held hostage, Eternals pressing blades to their throats.

“Where’s the spark?” Tezzeret asked, “A certain someone named Freyalise is dead. Her body holds something we need. Tell us, and we’ll let you live. Otherwise, we’ll kill your families and friends, burn down your homes, and destroy all of your forest.”

Nissa burst through, charging for Tezzeret.

She didn’t notice two Eternals cut down her elemental. They locked her arms behind her back and shoved her into the dirt.

“You have five minutes to make up your minds. After that, either you tell us or you die.” Tezzeret walked away from the captive elves and approached Nissa, “How does it feel to be defeated so easily, Revane? The forest burns, your friends are downed and the spark is ours.”

“We will end you and your despicable master.” Nissa growled.

Tezzeret chuckled, “That’s the spirit! I find it hilarious how convicted you are to end me.”

A shadow loomed over Tezzeret and his Eternals. He looked to the sky to find the Weatherlight towering over him.

“I would watch your tone, artificer.” Nissa smiled.

“Damn you. I still have hostages.” Tezzeret’s etherium arm became a blade. He threatened to cut Nissa’s throat.

“No.” Bolas’s voice echoed in his head, “Let them spend time trying to rebuild. We are after something else. Withdraw the Eternals and come to Urborg.”

Tezzeret removed his claw, “Retreat! All units withdraw!”  
_________________________________________

Bolas was impressed by Yawgmoth. He always was. The dead planeswalker’s library was more vast than any he had seen. And that’s saying something.

The library was located several miles underground Urborg. Bolas had spent the last few weeks reading through it.

He realized that he had made an error. A fatal flaw. He had heard of Dakkon Blackblade and his sword that killed one of his elder dragon brethren. What he didn’t know is that Yawgmoth reformed Blackblade with the purpose of slaying the last elder dragon himself. That dragon would be Bolas.

But if someone from the Weatherlight crew could wield it, that would be a threat to him. Obviously, it was highly unlikely that anyone could strike him with it. But highly unlikely wasn’t good enough.

How would he find it, though?

Bolas didn’t have enough resources or time to ravage the plane in search of a sword. And there was only one thing in the multiverse that knew more than him.

The dragon ripped a hole through the Blind Eternities with his talon and walked through. He reached farther than he ever had in years. To the edge of the multiverse. To Equilor.

Bolas exited the Eternities to find a barren world. Equilor was but ruins. They were older than even himself, and that was saying something.

“What business do you have here, little dragon?” A voice asked.

“Excuse me?” Bolas turned around. A cloaked figure stood at his feet, “I think you’re the little one here.”

“I have lived a hundred of your lifetimes. To me, you are a child. Now tell me, what business do you have here?”

“I seek the location of the reforged Blackblade.” Bolas said.

“Ah, Yes. The one thing that could bring you down. I will tell you. However, I am due payment. Knowledge has a cost.”

“What is it you would like?”

“We will get to that. But first, I will share with you all the knowledge you seek. The one you call Yawgmoth stored the blade away in his tomb. Such that when he rose again, he could complete his mission. But the to,b was raided and is now located in the flame of Keld. The blade must be wielded by a planeswalker in order to use it.”

“Good. Thank you, elder one.”

“Now, we can get to your payment.”

Bolas felt something twitch within him. The dragon’s body lit with blinding golden light. When it disappeared, Bolas was face to face with the cloaked figure.

“What….what have you done to me?”

Bolas looked at his hands. They were hands! Had he been polymorphed? An illusion?

“I have turned you into that which you call weak. I’ve made you human.”

Bolas flexed his wings. He was still covered in scales and his horns were still there.

“Well, part human. It’ll be interesting to watch you cope with this.” The figure raised a hand and with a flick of his wrist, propelled Bolas from Equilor, all the way to the center of the multiverse.


	13. Resurgence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace goes back to Ravnica in the wake of Liliana's crippling betrayal and the Weatherlight Crew and the Gatewatch reunite after Tezzeret's destruction of the Llanowar forests.

Jace’s chest felt empty. He was a swirling mess of hatred, sorrow and guilty.

How could she….how could she just lie to him like that? How could she not even care if what he remembered was fake?

He arrived in his sanctum and collapsed on a couch. His head was experiencing a splitting migraine from all that had been released.

Despite the ache, he figured work would get his mind off it.

Jace sat up and exited his apartments. Through winding tunnels, he made his way to his chamber.

As always, Lavinia was exactly where she was needed.

“Guildpact. You’ve returned.”

“For good this time, Lavinia. What do I have to catch up on?”

Jace took a seat in his comfy leather arm chair. It felt...familiar to him.

“Well, there has been a change in leadership for the Golgari that has been petitioned.”

“What? Jarad finally rotted off his bones, huh?” Jace grabbed the form Lavinia handed to her, “So who’s the new candidate?”

“That’s the issue, Guildpact. She’s a repeat offender of the Azorius Senate and has a lengthy criminal record. It’s Vraska.”

Jace closed his eyes and sighed, “You know what? I’ll sign it anyways. Can we please move away from planeswalker related issues?”

“Certainly.” Lavinia’s voice became more background noise as Jace went to sign the form.

He saw a glint in his peripheral.

Jace glanced at it and looked back at his paper.

He looked back immediately. Was that...Liliana? He blinked and she was gone.

His mind was playing tricks on him again. Jace went ahead and signed off on Vraska’s leadership.  
_______________________________________

“Down there.” Karn pointed off the deck of the Weatherlight. Jhoira swooped the sky ship around and landed in the ruins of Llanowar.

Gideon hopped off board and ran to Nissa, Chandra and Jaya.

They were sprawled across the ground, all unconscious except Nissa.

“What happened?” Gideon asked.

“We were overpowered. The elves. Please get them out of here.” Nissa croaked, barely able to speak.

“Guys! Go look for survivors and bring them aboard!” Gideon shouted. He turned back to Nissa, “Tell in detail how they got you guys.”

The animist set about healing herself with a softly glowing green light, “Tezzeret was here. He ruined us. The Eternals were in armored tanks, launching fire into the forest. Anything I threw was either cut to shreds or blocked. And fire isn’t the greatest tool against metal.”

“I see. I’m sorry we didn’t get here earlier.”

“The moment you guys arrived, they ran off.” Nissa said, “You made good enough time. What happened on your end?”

“We were able to successfully defend Benalia. Jace and Liliana were there and they led one hell of a siege. We were able to capture them and restore Jace’s mind. Unfortunately, he left out of anger. But something happened to Liliana. She became possessed by something and broke out.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Nissa said, “But we need to be able to telegraph Bolas’s next attack.”

“Teferi said he might have a solution.”  
_________________________________

Bolas raised his head as the doors of his new chambers swung open. He had turned the ruins of Tolaria into his new fortress. Liliana stood before his throne with his other servants. All of them looked in confusion at him.

“Liliana.” He grinned, “You’ve returned.”

“Liliana Vess no longer inhabits this body, dragon.”

Bolas had a dubious look on his before before smiling, “Lim-Dûl.”

“That’s right. I know not of you. Yet her mind encouraged I go this way.”

“The body you inhabit is that of one of my servants. I am Nicol Bolas. You may know as the Eldest One. Or perhaps the Forever Serpent. I go by many names. But nevertheless, welcome, Necromancer.”

“Yes. I have heard of you. You were the God-Emperor of the Madarans, weren’t you?”

“Correct. My goal here is to capture a certain weapon. And you will help me.”

“I assume you had doubts in loyalty with Liliana?”

“Many. How did you come to possess her form, though?”

“A spirit of my haunted her for many years, digging deeper into her soul until he could force it out and replace it with mine.”

“An exemplary display. However, back to business.” Bolas folded his fingers, “Blackblade is held by the Keldon tribes. We will wipe them out in a siege and recover the weapon.”

“The Keldon are the most adept warriors on Dominaria. How will the Eternals match up against them?” Tezzeret asked.

“It doesn’t matter if the Keldon can defend themselves. All that matters is that the Weatherlight crew is distracted.” Bolas grinned, “And I have a gift for them.”  
___________________________________________

Jace sipped his coffee, relieved that the work day was over. He had been back for three days and it was already draining him.

He turned away from his counter and nearly spit out his drink at the sight of Liliana on the other side of the room. She was peering around a corner. She slinked around it, disappearing from view.

Jace set down his cup and followed the image.

He turned the corner into his library. The image was in front of a particular bookcase. She stepped backwards, disappearing into it.

Jace assumed she was leading him to something. He placed his hand on the case and felt about. There were several locks on the case which he undid with telekinesis.

The case slid open, revealing an old corridor behind it. Why did his architects never tell him about this?

Liliana stood in front of another locked door. This one was magically warded. It probably required a spell to open.

Jace approached the image. She looked to the right.

Scrawled upon the wall, was a set of numbers. They were hand positions Jace had learned to use magic as a novice.

Jace put his hands in position 24 and followed the sequence. Concentric sigils of blue magic formed before him, breaking the lock. He looked back at the numbers again to check if he was correct, but they had vanished.

By the end, the door was unlocked. Liliana walked through the door.

Jace entered the room. Liliana was gone, but the room was dimly lit, full of books older than Ravnica.

One of the books fell off a shelf. Obviously pushed off.

He grabbed the book. It was THE book of the dead. A grimoire used by the multiverse’s greatest necromancers.

Of course. The book burst open in his hands and landed on a page about specters.

This wasn’t an illusion. It was a remnant of Liliana’s soul. A specter.

On the page was a spell to make specters whole. Against his better judgement and curious as hell as to what happened, he performed it. It was ancient magic, not bound by colors of mana.

Jace held up his hand and chanted, “O unrestful unus ego animus ad instaurandum templum tuum, ut secet te sperantium in terra semel, et ambules hoc amplius.”

Violet flames swirled in a small cyclone. They dissipated as quickly as they had come. Standing in their place, was Liliana.

She sighed with relief, “You got my message.”

“What happened? Why are you like this?”

“That’s not important. I need you to unbind me.”

“What? No. You’re staying here, where I can supervise you.” Jace said, “I’m not helping you get back to Bolas.”

“You don’t need to help me.”

“Fine, I’m not letting you.”

“Well good luck with that. You’re stuck with me until you let me loose. I’ll drive you mad, Beleren.”

“I’m sure you will.” Jace smiled smugly, “Now, what’s all this? I never knew we had a secret library.”

“Neither did I. I was exploring and I found this place yesterday.”

Jace looked at the spines of the many books. One of them had Bolas’s horns on it. He grabbed the book. The title was in a language he couldn’t read, but with a small translation spell, he was able to decipher some the characters.

The gold calligraphy read “Last Hopes”.

“This is literally a how-to manual on killing the multiverse’s biggest threats.” Jace chuckled. The book had no apparent author. Jace opened to the table of contents. His spell was still looking for samples, but he could refine the chapter that read “Forever Serpent”.

Jace flipped through the chapter, “I could help take out Bolas for good.”  
________________________________________

Teferi gathered all the planeswalkers on the bridge of the Weatherlight.

“Karn and I have been exploring some old time magic and we think we have a way of tracking their next attack.” Teferi explained, “We have a piece off an Eternal. By seeing where that Eternal will be in the future, we can see where they attack next.”

Karn brought a bowl full of liquid out and gave Teferi the chunk of Eternal.

Teferi dropped the chunk into the bowl and began whispering his spell.

Mist spilled out of the bowl and covered the ground with fog. The fog filled up the bridge and became so thick, Teferi could see his own hand.

The fog was blown away in an instant. The planeswalker were in the middle of a battlefield. Many were alarmed by the sudden change.

“Calm down, this is just a vision.”

The Weatherlight flew over them, firing on Bolas’s armada. This was Keld.

“Hold them down! Until I get my hands on Blackblade!” Bolas shouted from across the field. His humanoid form startled most of the planeswalkers.

“Blackblade.” Karn said, “Surely he can’t be talking about Dakkon Blackblade.”

“No. He’s talking about Blackblade. The actual sword.” Teferi explained, “It has the power to kill elder dragons. In the hands of a swordsman, it could kill or at the very least severely wound Bolas.”

“We need to get that sword.” Gideon declared.

Teferi waved his hand, wiping away the vision, “I agree. That sword is pretty much our only chance at killing him.”

“We need to get to Keld as soon as possible. That vision wasn’t too far off in the future.” Karn said.


	14. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace goes about Dominaria, rounding up the descendants and students of great figures from Dominaria's past to participate in a spell to bring Bolas down for good. Meanwhile, the Gatewatch and the Weatherlight crew race Bolas's Eternal army for the possession of the reforged Blackblade.

Jace appeared on Dominaria.

“Of all the places…” Liliana crossed her arms in disapproval. He had landed before a cathedral of Serra.

“We’re here to grab someone.” Jace said, “Just be patient.”

Jace walked inside the cathedral to find an aven priest and a knight talking.

“Excuse me,” the aven asked, “But who might you be?”

“My name is Jace Beleren. I’m looking for one of your apostles.” The mind mage lowered his hood, “His name is Teshar.”

“Well, what a coincidence.” The aven said, “I happen to be him.”

“Who’s your companion?” Jace gestured to the knight.

“This is Aryel, a Knight of Windgrace.” Teshar explained.

Jace Chuckled, “That lucky, Huh?

“What can I help you with?”

“I’m certain you’re aware of the recent attacks of the dragon Nicol Bolas. I’m collecting a group of people to help defeat him. This would include both of you.” Jace said.

“What? How would I be able to help you?” Teshar looked genuinely bewildered.

“We hear you’ve been blessed with the ability to heal. Even revive the dead.” Jace looked to Liliana, “The right way.”

“You don’t have to be so bitter, you know.” Liliana huffed.

“I suppose I could assist you.” The aven said.

“And what’s my job in all this?” Aryel asked.

“You’re an adept tactician and a great warrior.” Jace said, “I don’t think I need to say anymore.”

“My knights come with me.” Aryel said.

“Of course.” Jace gave a warm Gideon-smile, “We need to go towards Shiv and then stop at Yavimaya. After that, Benalia and Llanowar.”  
_______________________________

Jace, Teshar and Aryel boarded a large airship donated by the Church and set off for Windgrace.

Jace had taken the captain’s quarters, researching further in his book.

“Whatcha reading?” Liliana asked, peering over Jace’s shoulder.

“A list. We need these people with us.” Jace responded, not looking at her.

Liliana sighed, “What are you actually going to end up doing with them?”

“Well, these people are the only ones who can stand a chance against Bolas who aren’t immortal or a planeswalker.”

Liliana flopped onto Jace’s bed, “How boring.”  
_______________________

Two days later, Jace landed in Jamura. A refugee camp there held many of the elves left behind of the destruction of Llanowar.

Jace found an elf named Marwyn who was on the list. They talked and he convinced Marwyn to join them. Liliana made several snide remarks.

He also found one Raff Capashen from the Tolaria refugees. Descendant of the hero Gerrard Capashen. Liliana had a lot to say about him as well

Jace talked Raff into getting revenge on Bolas for his school. 

An artificer named Rona had been found as well. She was fairly insistent on finding whoever crashed her studies.

There were thousands who wanted to fight, so Jace devised a plan. Once they were able to get the spell ready, an army of survivors would storm the ruins of Tolaria West to defeat Bolas once and for all.

Now two more in number, Jace’s crew set out for Benalia. Liliana would’ve vomited if she could, because the first two recruit when they got there were Angels. Their names were Lyra Dawnbringer and Shalai.

After Jace endured a conversation with Liliana trying to drive him completely insane for siding with angels, he sought out two knights. One of which was Danitha Capashen, Raff’s sister. The other was a man named Barid from Argive. Both accepted the challenge to take on Bolas quickly.

Legions of knights were sent to join up with the forces in Tolaria.

Departing from Benalia, they flew through Urborg and the surrounding isles.

Much to Liliana’s pleasure, Jace picked up the descendant of Baron Sengir. His name was Kazarov and he took some convincing. But with Liliana finally deciding to help, it wasn’t a difficult task.

Jace also went seeking the remnants of the Cabal. He met Whisper, a Liturgist who specialized in blood magic and Urgoros, a shade who accompanied her. Both happened to be on the list. Liliana also enjoyed these members’ company. They sent what remained of the Cabal to Tolaria.

While trying to keep the new members and the angels from killing each other, Jace went off to Yavimaya.

There, he encountered an elemental name Multani. She was very old and very powerful. As well as very much on the list, so he insisted she help. She accepted on the condition she could bring her child.

Jace accepted not knowing her child, Muldrotha, was a full grown ten foot tall swamp elemental.

The telepath sought out a merfolk name Tatyova who he found, but ran into trouble when it came to getting her on board the ship. The end result involved her staying inside Muldrotha’s watery parts and Tatyova sending off the merfolk armies to Tolaria.

On the way to Shiv, Jace stopped at the fortress of a powerful mage. He landed and requested the archmage Jodah join their quest. By some miracle, he accepted and cam aboard.

In Shiv, Jace looked for and found a woman named Adeliz. She was apparently a powerful wizard of the Ghitu. She accepted the offer and asked the Shivan warriors and wizards to help fight for their sister lands of Tolaria West..  
________________________________

Grand Warlord Radha looked on in horror as the legions of metallic blue marched towards Keld.

“Hallar, go warn the people.” She ordered.

“Yes, Grand Warlord.” Hallar mounted a beast and ran off.

Suddenly a shadow appeared overhead. Radha found a giant airship above her.

Several ropes dropped from the deck as shadowed figures slid down them. A soldier in bulky armor, a silver golem and an old woman with silver hair and dark crimson robes.

“Greetings, warlord.” the golem said, “I am Karn. These are my associates Gideon and Jaya. We’ve come to assist you with the impending threat of the Eternals.”

“Karn. Would you and your people join me in my hall and speak of these matters?”

The Weatherlight’s crew all disembarked in a Keldon village. Radha’s hall was the largest structure there, but was still only about the size of a Benalian home.

Radha sat at the end of a long wooden table with some of her advisors, “I hear you have faced these creatures before. What is your advice?”

“Evacuate.” The time mage named Teferi said bluntly.

“Evacuate? Are you serious?”

“Your people will die if they fight. No prisoners will be taken.” a half lion man who’d introduced himself as Ajani explained.

One of Radha’s advisors slammed on the table, “You dishonor us by suggesting that!”

“If you want all your people to die, that’s not my call to make, but to prevent further loss of life, come with us. It’s likely they’ll plan an ambush on your village.” Teferi said.

Radha thought it over, “We can’t simply surrender to them. But having a future for Keld is more important.”

“Which is why we propose keeping your people safe.” Teferi said.

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you evacuate everyone. But my warriors stay. They will want to fight even if it ends in their deaths.”

“That’s fine. But we can’t simply leave you. Gideon, Karn, Chandra, Nissa, Jaya, Ajani, Sarkhan, Garruk and I will stay and help you as best we can. Jhoira, Tamiyo and Narset will come back as well once she gets your people out of here.”  
______________________________

Waves of lazotep covered bodies engulfed the mountains in the distance.

Bolas soared in the air with them, announcing his declaration of war with a blood curdling roar.

Keldon Warriors launched volley after volley of arrows, spears and the like, but they all just bounced off the Eternals’ stone skin.

Bolas cast a spell towards the heavens.

Dark, ominous clouds gathered in the sky, following the Eternals. Violet lightning flashed in the midst of them as flames rained down, scorching the terrain.

Keldon raiders charged at the oncoming army and began the battle.

Most of them were eviscerated by the rain of fire, but Teferi was able to dispel the enchantment.

Another wave of warriors charged and leapt into the fray.

Gideon joined them, slashing through the Eternals in front of him with a magically imbued sword. Bolas bashed himself into Gideon.

“Ready for round two, Jura?” Bolas grinned.

One of his wings knocked Gideon in the head. Bolas reared his head and unleashed a stream of dragon fire. The soldier could barely keep up his shields. He swung his blade at Bolas, but the dragon blocked the blade with his arm. It shattered upon contact with his scales.

Bolas sent a blow to Gideon’s stomach, which cracked the metal his armor was made out of. Gideon coughed up a hefty amount of blood.

Bolas’s tail whipped around and grabbed Gideon’s ankle. The dragon flung the soldier back at least half a mile.

He cackled as he faced down the rest of the planeswalkers.

“I would love to rip each of you apart one by one, but I’m not exactly fit for such a battle.” Bolas’s eyes shined azure as the planeswalkers found themselves unable to move. The dragon walked past them, in search of Blackblade.

Jhoira came around with the Weatherlight, firing torpedoes on Bolas’s Eternals.

“Hold them down! Until I get my hands on Blackblade!” Bolas shouted.

Bolas felt through the ground. He sensed an underground cavern below the village. With mighty slam on the ground, the earth split open beneath his feet. A vault of treasures were exposed to sunlight for the first time ever.

Bolas landed softly on the ground. He scanned the room. Most of it was filled with gold and jewels, but he could feel magic power radiating from a velvet shawl that had something wrapped in it.

The dragon unfurled it. Golden electricity crackled throughout the blade with his touch.

Blackblade was an amazing sword. About five feet in length and made entirely out of dark steel. Magic residue wafted from it like a smoke. It’s blade was sharpened and jagged, designed for ripping dragon scales.

Bolas pricked his finger on the sword, crimson dragon blood oozing out of the cut.

“That sword isn’t yours, Bolas.” Teferi’s voice echoed into the treasure room.

“It is now.” Bolas glared at the time mage and sent a wave of golden fire at him.

Teferi scattered the mana, causing it to dissipate.

Bolas roared and rushed at Teferi, wielding Blackblade. Teferi dodged the strike with effort, but the dragon knocked him over with his tail.

Bolas raised the blade, but it disappeared from his grip. Jhoira had joined the fight, rewinding Blackblade to when it was back on the ground.

The dragon unleashed a torrent of violet lightning. Jhoira created an arcane shield, but it was destroyed with ease by Bolas’s spell. The lightning hit her with great force, making burns in her chest as she screamed in pain.

“Jhoira!” Karn countered the spell. The golem charged at Bolas, propelling him into the wall opposite him.

The dragon cast a spell of red energy. Karn yelled out as the spell corroded his silver. Teferi shoved Bolas forward with a burst of telekinesis. Before Karn could recover, Bolas slapped the golem with his tail, sending him flying into another distant wall.

Jhoira cast an unsummoning spell. The dragon leapt out of the way and grabbed Blackblade. 

A twinge of pain hit Bolas as Jaya Ballard cast a bout of flames at him. He laughed maniacally, “You’re just as dumb as your student, Ballard.”

Bolas charged. Blackblade ran through Jaya, but he kept going, out of the vault. He slammed her into a tree and withdrew Blackblade from her rib cage.

Blood pooled beneath her.

“No!” Chandra yelled. She ran at Bolas, but he paralyzed her.

The dragon plunged his hand into Jaya’s chest and tore out her spark. It pulsates with bright orange light in his claw. Bolas closed his fist, consuming her spark and extinguishing her life.

Chandra raged on the inside, unable to roast Bolas to a crisp.

The dragon breathed in the new life. He grew bigger and more reptilian, but only a little bit.

The scaled beast cackled manically, “Yes! It’s all possible!”

Then, a ball of golden light slammed into Bolas with the might of a baloth. The dragon landed and was tied to the ground with vines. He burned through them with ease and looked up to find Gideon and Nissa defending their ally.

“What’s all possible?” Nissa asked.

“Godhood!” Bolas roared, “It doesn’t matter that the mending limited our sparks. I only need a few premending sparks. And then I’ll be restored to my former power.”

Bolas unleashed a torrent of violet lightning at the Gatewatch members, forcing them back and breaking Gideon’s shield.

Nissa raised a stone wall to block Bolas’s next attack, but he melted the earth into magma. The dragon tightened his grip on Blackblade and swiped at Gideon. The soldier barely missed the strike and stumbled back.

Gideon caught Bolas’s arm on his next attack and sent a blow to the dragon’s head, disarming him.

Gideon grabbed the sword. Bright light encompassed the area from his touch. But the soldier didn’t fight. He ran as fast as he could from the dragon, determined to keep it out of the dragon’s reach.

Bolas launched into the air after him, but a boulder courtesy of Nissa shot him out of the sky.

Nissa and Chandra face him down. Bolas mentally called to his Eternals. Several stone skinned warriors tackled the mages to the ground.

Bolas flew through the air after Gideon, but he and the others had already boarded the Weatherlight.

The airship sped past him and picked up the remaining planeswalkers, then quickly sped away from Keld.

Bolas turned to his legions and roared, “Follow that airship! Don’t let it escape!”

The Eternals abandoned their fight with the Keldon and rushed in the direction of the Weatherlight.

Bolas chased the Weatherlight through the air and launched himself into the hull. He crashed through the metal and landed in the bottom deck of the massive ship.

This airship was the bane of all his plans. Bolas tore through the ceiling onto the deck and tore off the door to the cabins. He burst into the bridge where all the planeswalkers were.

They gasped and reeled back. Bolas charged at Gideon, but missed. The dragon grabbed the open steering controls and jerked them with all his might. The skyship flipped over, giving Bolas a clear shot at Blackblade.

Bolas leapt off the ceiling and tackled Gideon.

Jhoira grabbed onto the controls, trying to stabilize the ship. Bolas and Gideon went sailing out the bridge’s window as she did.

The dragon ripped the sword from Gideon’s hand.

“If I can’t have this sword, no one can!” Bolas gripped the blade. Jaya’s spark fueled him as red magic burrowed into Blackblade. The weapon began to crack, red light shining out of it.

With a blast of radiant energy, the sword shattered like stone in his claws.

“No!” Teferi shouted.

“No reversing time this go around.” Bolas cursed the pieces to be hexproof, “And here’s a little goodbye gift.” Bolas let loose a blast of fire from his hands, destroying one of the Weatherlight’s giant wings.

The skyship began spinning as it fell out of the air.

Bolas ran towards the deck and leapt off its edge.


	15. Umezawa's Strategem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace finds the last person he needs: Tetsuko Umezawa. Liliana makes a deal with Jace and the Weatherlight Crew and Gatewatch come upon a giant war camp filled with all the able bodied survivors of Bolas's attacks.

“Bolas had laid waste to the most advanced societies on Dominaria.” Jace expressed to his newest and last recruit, “If you don’t join us, you will all die.”

“I can’t.” a woman with blue leather armor and black hair expressed, “Do you know anything of what happened to him?”

“Tetsuko, please. You’re the only one who can make this happen.”

“He’ll kill me before we have the chance!” Testuko Umezawa cried, “He’s hunted me all my life.”

“We won’t let him.” Jace said.

“How?”

“We have an army. And I’m certain Bolas has more important things to do than kill you.”

Tetsuko sighed, “What do you need me for?”

“We need to know how your ancestor killed Bolas the first time.” Jace said.

“How are you gonna do that? I was never taught about that.”

“We have a historian.”  
___________________________________

“Can you do, Teshar?” Jace asked.

“Certainly.’ The aven said, “Just give me a moment. Tetsuko, if you would sit cross legged please?”

Tetsuko sat across from Teshar. The aven set a bowl filled with a magical concoction on the floor between them and began chanting.

The liquid rippled slightly.

Teshar’s eyes glowed a blinding white as his distorted voice began telling the story of the Umezawas.

“Long ago, Tetsuo Umezawa became the imperial champion of Madara so he could defend the people from outside forces like the vicious god-emperor Nicol Bolas. But when Bolas began a brutal invasion of the Edemi Islands by the Kentsu and made Tetsuo’s nemesis, the vile Ramses Overdark, the imperial regent, Tetsuo renounced his claim on the title of imperial champion. He swore vengeance and destroyed both Overdark and Bolas. 

“After Tetsuo had killed Overdark, Bolas was furious over the death of his regent. Tetsuo fled to the Meditation Plane and Bolas followed. This proved a mistake for the Elder Dragon however, for Tetsuo had cast the Meteor Hammer spell. The spell destroyed the Imperial Shrine, thus destroying the mana foothold Bolas needed to stay in Dominaria. Denied his powers as a planeswalker, Bolas was defeated by Tetsuo.”

Teshar’s eyes returned to normal.

“Of course.” Jace said, in deep thought, “Bolas’s spark is attached to his body. If we can separate his mind and soul from it, we can kill him.”

“But Bolas’s mind is near untouchable. You said it yourself.” Kazarov said.

“I think I have a plan.”  
______________________________________________________________

“I...can’t...stabilize the ship!” Jhoira shouted.

“Everybody hold onto me!” Gideon yelled.

The planeswalker all huddled around Gideon, holding onto each other. The skyship hurled through the air as Gideon’s golden shield covered them.

Fire encompassed everything as the ship exploded. The heat was still scarring, even through Gideon’s defenses. Eventually, the fire died down and Gideon lowered his shields.

They had crashed only a few islands away from the ruins of Tolaria West.

Nissa placed her hand on the earth, “There are others on this island. Thousands. From places all around Dominaria. I can find the shards of Blackblade as well.”

“We can’t let this crash hinder our efforts.” Teferi said, “Gideon, Chandra and Nissa. Search for Blackblade and go to Shandalar. See if the mana there can reforge the sword. The rest of us will see if these people are friendly.”

A small airship flew overhead.

“Let’s follow that airship.” Jhoira said.  
______________________________________________

“Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego! “ Jace couldn’t take it anymore.

The Mind mage clutched his temples, “Please be quiet!”

“Not until you let me go. I told you I’d drive you mad.”

Liliana’s image appeared before him.

“Or...I’ll make a deal with you. Either let me go, or let me have control of your body for...oh, let’s say twelve hours.”

“No. Not twelve.”

“Eight then.”

Jace said nothing.

“Four.”

“You’re not taking control of my body.”

“You have no idea how to separate Bolas’s body, do you?”

“I’m working on it.”

Liliana placed her hands on his shoulders. They were cold to the touch. She pushed him onto his bed and got on top of him.

“I know how.” she whispered.

“You’re lying.”

“Give me two hours tonight. I’ll spend half that time writing down what you need to do.”

“What about the other half?”

“I’ll probably just spend that time pleasuring your body in ways you never knew were possible.” Liliana traced a cold finger down Jace’s torso.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Liliana sat up, “You can cast a word as bond enchantment. If I break it, I’ll just go back to annoying you.”

Jace sighed in exasperation, “Fine.” the mind mage held up his hands and whispered a few eldritch phrases. A blue sigil appeared on his raised right hand.

Liliana placed her hand on his, “I swear upon the powers of this magic, that I will spend one hour writing down everything I know about severing Bolas’s mind from his body and one hour doing something that won’t harm anyone.”

Jace shrugged, “That’s good enough. I swear on the powers of this magic that I will allow you to take control of my body for two hours tonight while I am asleep.”

“My word is my bond and should my bond to this spell be broken, so will my bond to life.” they closed the enchantment in unison.

Heavy knocks came from beyond Jace’s door, “We’re here, captain. And there’s a bunch of people outside claiming to be your friends.” Teshar said.

Jace hurried off the airship, confronted by Teferi, Ajani and the others. Gideon, Chandra and Nissa were missing.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jace asked.

“Bolas destroyed the Weatherlight and we crashed. Looks like you’ve gathered quite the army here.”

“Where are Gideon, Chandra and Nissa?”

“They left to pick up the pieces of Blackblade, a weapon that could’ve killed Bolas. He destroyed it, so now they’re gonna try to reforge it on Shandalar.”

“That’s great, but we don’t need a weapon to kill Bolas.” Jace said, “I found another. There’s an ancient ritual that can be used to sever Bolas from his body. Then he won’t have the power of his spark. It all has to do with the people I spent this time gathering.”

“Amazing!” Jhoira exclaimed, “How does it work?”

“I’m going to finish deciphering the last bits tonight. We attack in the morning.” Jace said.

“Well, we’ll let you get to work, then.” Ajani placed a hand on Jace’s shoulder, “Good luck.”  
_____________________________________

Liliana worked tirelessly that night. She probably could’ve gotten away asking for more time, but it was already too late.

She deciphered the language in Jace’s book as fast as she could. Ancient madaran wasn’t exactly a school elective during her childhood.

By the time Jace woke up, there was a perfectly translated spell on parchment before him.

“It took me all my time to get it right. I expect three hours next.” Liliana frowned.

“Thank you.” Jace said, “This is perfect.”

Jace walked into the shoddy camp the survivors had set up.

“Can I have your attention everyone!” Jace shouted, “We have the spell! Today, we attack and bring the forever serpent down for good!”

The soldiers cheered. Several airships flew through the sky, landing on the edge of the camp. Hundreds of Keldon warriors spilled out into the open area, led by a elven warlord.

“My name is Warlord Radha!” the elf woman said, “We intend to finish what Bolas started.”

Jace shrugged, “The more, the merrier.”

Radha nodded in accord and stood by her warriors as Jace explained the strategy.

“We need a layered plan to get past Bolas.” Jace said, “Using illusion magic, the remainders of the Tolarian wizards will create the appearance of a large force headed their way. Bolas will assume the real attack is coming from another direction. When Bolas turns his forces, the Benalish and Windgrace Knights and Keldon Warriors will lead an onslaught on his Eternals.

“Behind the Tolarian wizards, I will station the remainders of the Vodalian merfolk army, the Cabal, the Ghitu. They will attack Bolas’s army as well, outflanking them. The Llanowar refugees and a covert battalion of Merfolk will lead those of us who aren’t commanders to the shore on the other side of the island. Volunteers from the Church of Serra will help in clearing a path to Bolas. Tetsuko will open a portal to get us in range for the spell.

“When we get there, we have to act quickly. I’ll begin the incantation and we all have to be within range. We’ll...um” Jace squinted at one of the phrases, unsure of what it meant, “It looks like we’ll have to surround him. Beams of light will come from your hands as you do so. This will suppress Bolas, allowing the rest of the spell to do its work and extract his mind.”

Teferi began to speak, “Each and everyone one of you is vital to our plan today. We must come together as a world to protect our home and destroy the dragon once and for all!”

The fighters cheered as they began to prepare for the battle of their lives.


	16. Unsavory Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gatewatch, Weatherlight Crew and Dominaria’s refugee army lead their last attempt to kill Bolas. Only to realize Bolas’s true intentions for coming to Dominaria.
> 
> WARNING: Bolas gets...grotesque.
> 
> Also, I'm making a Guilds of Ravnica "block" thing to finish off the trilogy of Magic's Infinity War knock off, then I'm done with rewriting current lore. I might make a similar type of work set earlier in the timeline if I feel up to it.

Bolas heard the sounds of battlecries far earlier than they would’ve anticipated. With a flick of his hand, he directed the Scarab God to lead the Eternals to that side of the island.

Tezzeret was sent for human input.

“What do their forces look like?” Bolas asked.

“They’re enormous. Hundred of airships and probably more troops beyond the fog.” Tezzeret reported.

Bolas chuckled, “How boring. It’s an illusion. They’re attacking from the other side of the island.”

“Yes, master. We’ll make our way there immediately.”

Bolas relaxed and drank a cup of tea. It helped to have hands sometimes.

Tezzeret patched in only a few minutes later, “Master. It’s not much better. They have less troops, but the warriors are all very reputable.”

“The Eternals can take them.” the dragon said. He looked to his remaining servants, “Lim-Dul, Baltrice, Zarek. Remain on guard.”

Bolas closed his eyes and extended his sight to the shores of the island. The illusion magic had faded. Yet still, a considerable number of wizards and merfolk warriors remained.

“Lim-Dul.” Bolas said, “They have more numbers on the original site of attack. Go ahead and give them a welcome present.”

“Yes, Bolas.” Lim-Dul said, strolling off.  
___________________________________________________

Just as Jace had predicted, Tezzeret and the Eternals showed up on Ajani’s side of the island.

The Leonin roared as he leapt from his airship, into the gathered formation of Eternals. With a slam of his double headed axe, he created a shockwave in the ground.

Warriors and knights began dismounting the skyships and leaping into battle.

Narset and Sarkhan joined Ajani in the midst of battle, flinging Eternals away like insects. Defeating them was easy for the planeswalkers, but their fighters were having a tougher time.

Ajani roared, imbuing the soldiers with healing and strength enhancing magic. After enough strength spells, the knights and warriors were matching the Eternals in fighting capability.

The leonin cut in waves, slicing through three or four at a time. He cut through a ball of flames and shattered the source.

A shard of metal cut him across the face. Tezzeret landed before him. He wasted no time with words, constructing a suit of juggernaut armor around himself. Which was wise, since when Ajani bashed into him, he only stumbled a little.

Tezzeret assembled a weapon like a handheld cannon. A beam of blue light shot from it, hitting Ajani square in the chest. The blast sent him flying.

The leonin got up once more and tried to block the attack. He was successful, but it still required great effort.

Tezzeret fired a constant stream of energy, pinning Ajani down as he desperately tried to withstand the attack with his axe.

The artificer slowly approached as the beam grew more intense. Eventually, he was close enough and Ajani ducked under the beam and slammed his axe into Tezzeret’s armor, splintering the shards.

Tezzeret stumbled back and shaped the weapon into six smaller devices that circled his wrist. Each one fired projectiles at a blinding speed.

Ajani took the hits head on and tackled Tezzeret to the ground. Ajani ripped the suit off him and threw him across the battlefield.

Shakily, Tezzeret stood and sent a volley of metallic shards at the leonin. He deflected most, but one stabbed him through the leg. He winced in pain and ripped the shard out, but by the time he had done so, He was trapped in a dome of floating Etherium spikes.

While Ajani was busy with Tezzeret, Sarkhan and Narset were having trouble taking down the Scarab God.

With each soldier that died, the Scarab God’s influence would cover them in lazotep and raise them as an Eternal.

Narset had been hit bad by the god’s giant scepter and was unconscious.

Sarkhan flew as fast as he could to dodge the lightning fast swings of its khopesh. One wrong move and he’d be grounded or worse.

The god caught Sarkhan on a back swing, flinging him into the ground.

Before he was killed, he quickly flew out of the way of the Scarab god’s next strike.

Sarkhan found an opening and rammed into the creature, but its exoskeleton was so tough, it barely did any damage.

The dragon mage unleashed a wave of deathly dragon flame, roasting the creature alive. Sarkhan dug a claw into the softened carapace and willed Ugin’s power to work its magic.

The Scarab God trembled as it froze. The god exploded into dust.

But before Sarkhan could celebrate any victory, the dust particles swirled about, rebuilding the god’s form. The dust solidified, reviving the Scarab God, good as new.  
________________________________________________________

Things weren’t much better on Tamiyo, Garruk and Karn’s front. 

Waves of zombies courtesy of Lim-Dul were overwhelming the less adept fighters they had.

Garruk did a well enough job of smashing through the line and Tamiyo used the oceans to freeze the undead in place, Jace observed as he and his squadron moved past the battlefield.

Bolas’s presence was everywhere on the island, pushing down on mental barriers. Jace was able to keep his up, but barely.

Jace’s crew had to get to shore via a small boat so as to not arouse suspicion. They each got onto the beach of the island as Jace directed Tetsuko to optimal spots on the island. One by one, she opened portals to them and sent groups of three or four to them.

“On my signal, converge at the center.” Jace said, once everyone had gotten to their stations. He looked off towards Sarkhan’s front. They had been pushed back, but that was a good thing. Karn’s front was also leading them further into the ocean, “Now. Go go go!”

Jace, Lyra, Tetsuko and Teshar booked it for the center tower. Silently, he signaled them to split off and head in other directions.

The mind mage made it to a giant piece of debris, taking cover and focusing intensely on making sure they weren’t detected.

“Push them til they drown.” Bolas’s voice said.

Jace peeked over the rock. The dragon seemed unaware.

“Lyra, now.”

The angel emerged from her hiding spot, just over Bolas’s throne. A mass of hieromantic force was unleashed, pinning the dragon to his throne.

Baird, Raff and Adeliz emerged as well with their own holding spells.

Jace leapt over his hiding place, holding a firm grip on Bolas’s mind.

He chuckled, “This was your big plan, huh.”

“Quiet.” Jace said, strengthening his magic, “Sleep.”

Bolas’s eyes blinked slowly, as if he were drowsy, but remained awake.

“He’s too strong! I can’t hold it very long!” Jace shouted.

Bolas broke through the sleep spell, “You should know better than to try and use mere parlor tricks on me, Beleren!”

The dragon’s claws lit with blue light as Lyra was dragged into the ground.

He stood from his throne.

“You’ve assembled quite the team, little mind mage.”

Jace launched another control spell. Bolas shrugged it off and whipped his tail around, slamming it into Jace. The mind mage smashed into a fallen rock and fell unconscious.

Teferi emerged and held a shield over Jace, “Tetsuko! Just perform the incantation.”

Tetsuko leapt over her cover and held out her hands towards Bolas and began shouting the spell, “Watashi wa anata ni inotte imasu! Watashi no dōmeikuni ni wa, kono kurashi no sekai kara ie no Umezawa o seifuku suru chikara o ataete kudasa!. Karada to karada o tamashī kara wakeru! Uchū no sangeki to sore o ie ni kisu subete no hitobito o kizutsuki yasui mama ni shite oite kudasai!”

Everyone from Jace’s crew revealed themselves, golden magic shining on their hands.

Bolas laughed, “Impressive, Beleren! Very Impressive!”

Beams of light launched from everyone’s hands. But before they could touch Bolas, he froze the spell in midair, as well as its casters.

“But ultimately useless.”

Every single beam of light shattered like glass.

“Thank you for bringing me someone I’ve been after for a while.” Bolas grabbed a frozen Tetsuko Umezawa by the throat, “You keep getting younger and younger, you Umezawas.”

“I’ll rip your heart out, leech!” Tetsuko gasped.

Bolas laughed, “Of course you will! Do you have any children?”

“Of course not. My ancestors warned me about you. They told me never to have children.”

“Smart. But this Let’s Find An Umezawa game just never gets old.” Bolas observed her, “Normally this would be kind of a pain in the neck for me, but since you’re a woman, the spell will be a lot more fun to watch.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Bolas!” Teferi shouted.

“I’ll get to you later, chronomancer.” Bolas flung Teferi back fifty feet with a thought. The dragon extended a claw to Umezawa’s abdomen.

Violet energy pulsated in his open hand.

Tetsuko could feel something brewing inside her, “What are doing?”

“Letting you experience the wonders of childbirth.”

Tetsuko screamed as her abdomen swelled up. In the midst of her screaming, she vomitted all over Bolas.

“Ugh! Now that’s just undignified.” Bolas spat.

Tetsuko’s midsection returned to normal size as Bolas accelerated the process of giving birth, condensing the pain all into seconds.

Bolas held the child on a magical force, “There. Another heir to continue my hunt.”

The dragon cut the cord and teleported the child away. He let go of Tetsuko’s throat, letting her drop to the ground.

“Now we get to focus on you.” Bolas clenched his fist.

Tetsuko began screaming again.

“I haven’t any need for flashy spells when I can just cause you the most amount of pain your mind can take directly.” Bolas grinned, “Now the question is how do I finish you? Oh, I know.”

Bolas let the pain soften on Tetsuko as he summoned two large planks of wood to form a cross.

“This is a very popular form of execution and humiliation among several civilizations.” The dragon said. Tetsuko’s armor and clothing were ripped to tatters, leaving nothing but what could barely be considered rags, “First the humiliation part.” Telekinetically, Tetsuko was raised into the air, in front of the cross. Nails were forced through her hands, into the wood. She screamed in more pain, “Then comes the dying bit.”

Tetsuko bled profusely from the wounds, but Bolas wasn’t finished. He shoved a sword through both her bare feet.

She screamed more. She hadn’t the energy or sanity left to remain conscious. Her subconscious had took over, making her a savage, feral animal.

She raved madly as the cross was put upright on top of Bolas’s throne.

“This is called crucifixion.” Bolas smiled, “And it’s what’ll happen to you if you oppose me.”

The other crew members backed away.

Except for Lyra and Shalai.

The angels rushed at the dragon. In an instant and without moving an inch, Bolas stripped them of all their clothing, ripped off their wings and nailed them to crosses.

They both let loose their screams of pain.

“Stop this Bolas!” Teferi said as he returned to the scene, “Your quarrel is with us, not them.”

“True as that may be, the common folk must learn to bow to their master.”

Teferi aimed a time spell at the victims of Bolas’s most recent attacks.

“By rewinding time, you just give me the chance to make their deaths even slower and more painful.” Bolas chuckled.

Teferi put his arms down.

Jace stumbled to his feet, bleeding from his head.

“Welcome back to the party, Beleren.”

He stared, speechless at the atrocities Bolas had put Tetsuko and the angels through.

Bolas opened a telepathic communication line with his generals, “Come back to the center. It’s time.”

“I have a little surprise for all of you.” Bolas said.

Within a matter of minutes, all his Eternals and generals had assemble around the ruined hall.

“Tezzeret, fire up the portal.”

Tezzeret created a magic circle and spun it, opening the interplanar gateway. He stepped through and returned with an artifact.

Jace recognized it. The Immortal Sun.

Bolas held the artifact to the sky with both hands. A shockwave spread across Dominaria.

The planeswalkers gasped as their connection to other worlds was cut off.

“This is the Immortal Sun. Whoever holds it wields amazing power. But for everyone else on the plane, planeswalking is impossible.”

“Which means…” Teferi trailed off.

“You’re all trapped here. You are my prisoners.” Bolas teleported the Immortal Sun away, “I’m headed to Ravnica. Once my business is done there, I’ll be back for your sparks.” Bolas cackled, “Have fun preparing for my return!”

Bolas chained Teferi to the ground with binding illusions and strode through the planar portal.

Tezzeret and his other agents soon followed. And his Eternals behind them.

Jace groaned. His eyes glowed purple. And he spoke with two voices. One a female’s and one his own, “We will not be left behind!”

Jace made a break for the slowly closing portal. Teferi struggled against the restraints, but to no avail.

Jace leapt into the last bits of the portal, disappearing with it.  
___________________________________

Jace snapped back to reality. He was travelling through the Blind Eternities.

He redirected himself for Ravnica and tumbled onto the plane.

He hit the stone floor of his office with a thump and rolled to a stop. His memory was foggy. All he knew was that Bolas is coming.

Bolas is coming.


End file.
